Roomies in Aaa: Part 2
by CynicalCyn
Summary: Someone is trying 2 bring down d Candy Kingdom but who? After d boys saved Fionna from d Ice Queen, Fionna loves Marshall Lee, or atleast tats wat she thinks. Bt wen their love is put 2 d test will d 2 lovers b able 2 survive d harsh trials? FPs been hanging around a new girl n Pepper seems 2 b jealous Has she developed feelings 4 him? Or is she protecting him?
1. Chapter 1

"_You've slowly become my poison, but I like it that way._" Marshall Lee sings dreamily. All the girls in the crowd are enchanted by his voice, especially this week's "Vampire Queen". Marshall smiles at the pretty girl but his eyes are drawn back to the cute bartender. She winks at him when she catches his eye and then quickly goes back to work.

"Rawrrr," Bella roars playfully as she passes Fionna. "Well, aren't you on fire tonight." She says.

"I have no idea what it is that you are talking about." Fionna gives her a deviant smile.

"Oh give it up! I know you're with Marshall now, just fess up and spill the beans, girl." She insists.

"Oh, look, a customer." Fionna avoids the subject as best as she can. Truth be told, when the boys had saved her from the Ice Queen she had fallen head over heels in love with Marshall. If he was willing to save her life then she was willing to give him a chance. Of course it's been two weeks since the incident had taken place but she wasn't able to tell the world about them because of all the customers. If they found out that the Vampire King was taken they would just give up on him completely and stop showing up at the Candy Kingdom, not that they had a chance with him anyways. Even though they could not be together in public, that didn't stop her from keeping her hands off him when they were in private.

"Hey!" The Vampire King comes up to the bar counter followed by the Vampire Queen of the week. "Give me one whatever that peppermint drink was and a Bite for me." He gives her his usual flirtatious smile.

"A bite where?" She asks innocently, the girl behind Marshall glares at her menacingly. Fionna laughs and makes them their drinks.

"Thanks," he slips her a five dollar bill along the counter. He walks back to the stage as she takes it and flips it over. Neatly written on the other side was a little note: _"My room, tonight, after the show"_

Fionna looks up to see Marshall rocking out on stage again. Their eyes meet up again and she looks away, blushing with heat.

Marshall turns on the light in his room only to find Fionna laying on his bed reading a magazine with her feet up on his desk.

"Hi you," Fionna puts down the magazine and stands to greet him. She was no longer wearing her rock star uniform but instead she was already in her pajamas: blue boxer shorts and a white t-shirt, "I've been waiting for you."

"Oh yeah?" Marshall stands in the door way, shaking off his legendary leather jacket, "Sorry I couldn't shake off the groupie, she insisted that a 'queen' has to sleep with the 'king' ha!" He still couldn't believe that Fionna and him were really together.

"Well it's your own fault for picking her as a queen silly." She giggles as she stands in front of him. She was shorter by at least a foot but that only made her cuter.

"You know you'll always be my one and only queen." She gives her his shockingly gorgeous smile and then grabs her by the waist and they stumble on top of his bed.

"Marshall, stop!" Fionna giggles madly as Marshall proceeds to tickle her. Her face blushes with a passionate heat. When Marshall sees this light coloring on her face he engages into kissing her on the ear. This only makes her blush darker. He looked at her angelic face and leans in closer to her.

He whispers into her ear, "Now I'll show you what a Vampire King does to his true Vampire Queen." Marshall starts nibbling on her ear, sending chills throughout her body. She turns her head to the side allowing him to kiss, and bite, her neck a little. Fionna moves around a bit making Marshall pin her arms to the bed down. He looks into her baby blue eyes with his green ones, without his red contacts his face looked softer and sweeter. He graced her nose with his own as she flutters her eyellashes and moves her face to the side so that he could no longer see her flush. Marshall turns her face to him with his index finger.

Knock, knock, knock! Gumball opens the door to Marshall's room without an invite. "Sorry to interrupt your..." he eyes the young couple on the bed, "private time, but I needed to remind you that tomorrow you have to go to court."

"Glob it, old man, you always have to spoil my fun." Marshall moves away from Fionna to sit on his desk chair. "Just jealous 'cuz you don't get as much action as I do."

"Why does he have to go to court for?" Fionna asks Gumball. She seems comfortable as she doesn't see the protruding bump in Gumball's pants.

"The affair with the 'Tree Fortress' has to be attended to. Simone was the owner of this place but they have sent her off to the crazy house, so Marshall is next to ownership."

"Yeah, which just means paperwork and getting up early in the morning." Marshall comments from his place in front of his computer. He sighs. Fionna gets up and walks over to where Marshall is at. She places her arms around him and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"I guess, I'll let you get to work then." She crosses the room, her hair catching wind and nearly caressing Gumball's cheek on the way out. "Night guys." She disappears into the next room.

"Still can't believe you're with such a nice girl." Gumball comments, still standing in Marshall's doorway.

"Yeah, well believe it," Marshall's typing madly at his screen. Gumball takes this as a hint and is taking his leave, "Oh, and Gumball" Marshall calls out.

"Yeah?" He turns around.

"Keep it in your pants." Marshall smirks and continues to type as Gumball's face changes into three shades of red.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	2. Chapter 2

"Fionna, will you please pay more attention in class?" Gumball calls out to a daydreaming Fionna. She awakens from her dreams when she hears the strictness in his voice.

"I'm sorry Mr. Gumball, I'll pay more attention next time." Gumball turns a shade darker and proceeds to teaching about the nonexistent nutritional value of the "everything burrito." Fionna smiles as she slips back into her dreamland, her thoughts swirling around Marshall. There were only two months left of school before it let out for summer, then she and Marshall could spend as much time as they wanted together.

Ember, best known as FP, flicks her elbow. She looks at him and he motions to the paper he is passing her. On it are two words written neatly on the first line.

_Summer plans?_ She smiles at him and starts to write a response.

_Don't have any, yet. And you?_ She slides the paper back to him.

_Gonna go up north._

_Sounds like a blast, wont you miss Ashley?_

_We broke up..._

_Boo, wanna get something to cheer you up?_

_Like?_

_A fire flower!_

The bell decides to ring and the class starts filing out.

"Well?" Fionna waits for FP's response.

"Yeah, sure, why not" He smiles up at her, happiness gleaming in his eyes.

"Why aren't there any customers today?" FP asks Bella as he waits for Fionna to change into her uniform which wasn't really a uniform, just cool clothes with Marshall Lee t-shirts.

"Dunno, it's five dollar Tuesday at the movies today." She responds kind of bored.

"Yeah, Tuesday's a dead night." Fionna comes out tying her apron to her waist.

"Then Bella should come and make it a live night with me." The loud, and obnoxious, LSP says as he leans over the counter and winks at Bella.

"As if," she says and flicks her red hair to the side, "give it up, purple boy, I'm way out of your league."

"Feisty, I like it."

The little bell at the door of the Candy Kingdom rings and a girl walks in. She looks like a hardcore metal girl; her skin is extremely pale, almost white like bone, and her figure is very thin, almost skeletal. Her black and white hair is cut in a boy short pixie hair cut but her bangs stick out a little longer than her actual hair, not cover her dark eyes. Her chin sticks out and her face is really skinny, but she actually looks really pretty with her tall thin structure. Other than her physical appearance she has on tight black clothes, she wears black hair bands on each wrist and a silver ring on each finger.

"Hey there gorgeous." LSP immediately advances on her.

"Back off, short stuff, not interested." She didn't even look at LSP, instead she heads straight to the counter where the rest of the gang is. "Hi," she says to Bella, "Is the manager here?"

"What if I told you, you just called him short stuff?" FP says with a semiserious voice. She only blinks at him in disbelief.

"They're just messing with you" Cake says, "I'm the manager here, what can I do for you?" As always Cake appears out of nowhere, her pregnant belly making her impossible to miss.

"My name is Roxy Death, and I'd like to work here. Are you hiring?" Roxy's voice while talking to Cake is completely different from when she told LSP to back off. Cake looks at Fionna and Bella, then around the nearly empty candy bar.

"I don't see why not. Why don't you follow me so that we can do a quick interview?" The two women go off to sit at a booth.

"Who is that girl?" Fionna asks in skepticism at Cake's carelessness, "And how did she find this place."

"That's Roxy Death, also known as Foxy Bitch and Deatha," Pepper says from her seat next to FP.

"Where did you come from?" FP looks at her with wide eyes.

"Never mind that, she's not from around here, she actually just moved to town. She's an old friend of mine, slightly older than you and Fionna but not as old as Bella."

"Hey!" Bella says with a little bit of disappointment in her voice, "I'm not that old."

"You'll never too old for me" LSP says. Bella just rolls her eyes and leans on the counter to hear more about this strange girl.

"Despite her appearance," Pepper continues, "she's very nice, a little freaky and mean at times, but mostly nice to those she likes, she and I go way back."

"How do you know her?" Fionna asks

"That's something you don't have to worry about." Pepper replies seriously. Her tone scaring Fi enough to not ask any more questions.

"You said she wasn't from here," FP inquires, "Where's she from?"

"All over the world, she's a traveler."

"Glob, I wish I could do that," Fionna speaks up, "go around and see places I've never been to before."

FP sees this as an opportunity, "Want to go with me this summer? I'll be going to three different states before starting college."

"I wish I could but I'm probably going to work all summer and won't have time to have any fun."

"Hey, you never know," Bella says, "if Cake hires that new girl, you'll have plenty of time to be a kid." Bella nudges Fionna to turn her attention to Roxy and Cake who are sharing a laugh.

"Yeah, well, we're just going to see what happens." Fionna cocks her head to one side, "Hopefully this summer will turn out for the better than the worse."

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	3. Chapter 3

"So this new girl might get hired at the Candy Kingdom." Fionna announces to Marshall in his room that evening, he doesn't reply to her comment so Fionna continues, "You know I don't work on Thursday," Fionna picks at her split ends on Marshall's bed. "Why don't we go out or something?"

"Yeah, sure." Marshall didn't take his gaze off the computer screen. He adjusts his reading glasses and continues to type rapidly. Fionna looks over at him and rolls her eyes.

"She's a total hottie, that new girl. The type of girl I though you would date." She continues.

"You don't say."

"Hey Marshy, I think I just want to take off my clothes and lay here in your bed, is that cool with you?"

"Sounds great, you do that." He responds without a change in his tone of voice. Annoyed with his attitude, Fionna gets up from the bed and lightly hits Marshall behind his head.

"Oww"

"Were you even paying attention?" She puts her hands on her hips and gives him a pouty look.

"Yeah." He says while rubbing the back of his head.

"What did I just say?"

"That you wanted to make popcorn and watch a film or something" He rubs his eyes, which have dark bags under them, and readjusts his glasses.

"What are you even working on? Certainly not school work." Fionna leans over to take a look at the screen. There are three or more windows open at the same time, one has charts and graphs, the other has typed out stuffed, and the last is an internet window that says "How to Inherit a Business for Dummies."

"Just the same Ice Queen business," He says as he stretches, "the court's not allowing me to run it because I'm just nineteen, but if I don't fight for it, then we are all left homeless; you, me, Gumwad, and the newbie."

"What newbie?" Fionna proceeds to go sit on Marshall's lap, giving him a break from his work.

"Apparently, when Cake moved out the Ice Queen was quick to rent out the room to someone else; the newbie should be moving in soon, just not sure when. That's another thing I need on my plate, another person moving in and more paperwork." Fionna moves off of his lap and is now behind him rubbing his shoulders, wondering who this new roommate could be.

"Glob hunny you need to relax," She begins to nibble on his ear but with no reaction from him she gives up, "Fine, I get it, you're busy and can't be bothered." She makes her way to the door, "Just don't forget, this Thursday, ok?"

Marshall had already gone back to his work, "OK"

Thursday afternoon, Fionna walks home from school being extra careful when crossing the street. When she gets to the Treehouse, Marshall's room is locked. Even stranger, boxes full of junk are placed strategically all over the house. Once Fionna thinks she has a clear path going on, she trips over a lose wire.

"Ouch." She sits on the tile floor rubbing her elbow.

"Hey, kid, you ok?" A young man helps her get up and steadies her. "Sorry I was told no one was going to be here all day and I kind of just put everything all over the place when I was getting the boxes down."

"You're the new guy?" Standing before him, Fionna feels tiny. He's as tall as Marshall, maybe a bit taller, and he's dress in jeans and a teal shirt that reads "Gamer". His hair is a light teal color that would look hideous on anyone if they weren't white like him and if their hair didn't match their eyes. He looks like a pretty chill guy, "Oh thank glob." Fionna says without thinking.

"Pardon?" He asks, blinking as he looks at Fionna.

"Oh it's just, I met this weird girl who recently moved into town. I was afraid you were her, but you aren't. You are you, and you are cu…" Fionna notices that she is babbling, "sorry, I'm Fionna, I live just across the hall." She points lamely to her room and smiles at him.

"Benjamin Mortiarty," He says while running a hand through his hair, "But everyone calls me BMO," He stuffs his hands in his pocket in a shy way, "like the music device."

"Why's that?"

A smile appears upon his face, "Come on, I'll show you." He maneuvers her through his maze of boxes into his room. Inside, it is literally electronic heaven.

BMO's room is unlike any room seen before. To begin with there was no bed. Against one of the walls were two gamer chairs. The wall in front of the chairs had a flat screen television hung on the wall. Beneath the TV sits a small cabinet with three different game counsels sitting on it and all the controllers inside. In a corner sits a desk with a swirly chair in front of it. Next to it is a white couch that isn't really in place, just kind of left there as if it was going to get pushed up against the wall but the owner got busy and forgot about it. The closet had three empty boxes in it and he had replaced the regular light with black lights.

"Sorry it's not completely finished, I put in all the basics but I'm still missing my posters, wires, music disks, and games." BMO says looking around proudly.

"Where's the bed?" Fionna asks

"A real gamer doesn't sleep on a bed." He laughs, "Usually I just knock out on the couch."

She looks around again, "It's definitely roomy."

"Yeah, hey wanna play a round of Kompy's Kastle?"

"You have it?!" Fionna's eyes light up.

"Yea, I already hooked up the system," He walks over to the cabinet under the TV and gets two controllers out, "Here, we can play co-op mode."

"Awesome" Fionna plops herself down on one of the gamer chairs and starts to play. Hours pass when Fionna feels her phone vibrate. "Pause it." She tells BMO and he does as he is told.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Where are you?" Marshall asks.

"Making friends with the new roommate, why?" She leans back on the chair.

"Stay there." He hangs up the phone. Two minutes later he's at the door.

"Hey you" Fionna says as she clicks away madly at her controller.

"What are you doing?" He asks

"Schooling BMO in Kompy's Kastle." With a final button smash she yelps out "Victory!"

Totally ignoring her childish nature, Marshall continues "We had a date."

"Did we?" Fionna looks at him, "I guess it just slipped my mind."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," She gets up from the chair, "just like it slips your mind to make time for me, sometimes I forget too." She walks out the door and enters her room, shutting the door behind her.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	4. Chapter 4

"Fionna! Please pay attention." Gumball calls out to her, but Fionna didn't lift her head up from the table. She'd been sulking since Friday, spacingout during class and listening to her music all day long, not bothering to do any of the work. Lately, Fionna had been no fun; all she cared about was Marshall.

Yuck! The simple thought of Fionna and Marshall made Flame mentally throw up. He had had a crush on Fionna since he first time they met and knowing that he lost her to the vile Marshall Lee made him slightly upset. He's supposed to be trying to be more friendly with Marshall but the dude gives FP bad vibes. Marshall is known for flirting with anything that has a beating pulse. Fionna always defends him, saying that it's all an act to keep customers coming back to the Candy Kingdom, but it didn't seem like an act.

Not just that, but Marshall and Fionna live in the same place, with their rooms literally right next to one another. If Marshall hadn't already done something crude and disgusting to innocent, little Fionna already, FP's certain that he will soon. The bell rings, announcing the time to switch classes. FP rises out of his seat and looks over at Fi, who is still daydreaming happily in her seat. He doesn't have her for his next class but he knows where she goes. After gathering his stuff he lightly taps her with the back of his hand on the shoulder.

"Hey, dudette, let's go, I'll walk you to class."

"Mmmm?" Fionna looks up with a daze in he eyes, "'kay" she responds as she grabs her bag and gets up.

As they are walking, FP notices a small girl standing in the middle of the hallway looking down at a piece of paper in her hands then looking in all directions up and down the hall.

_What is she doing just standing there?,_ FP thinks as he takes Fionna to her Speech class. The tardy bell rings and Flame barely makes it to the classroom Fionna belongs in.

"Ember," the teacher, Miss Cinnabun, says cheerfully, "how kind of you to bring Miss Ward to class, lately she hasn't been herself." She smiles at him while Fionna takes her seat and almost instantly letting her head fall on the desk. The bell rings again. "Let me write you a pass back to class." The teacher tells him. His next class is upstairs, so he returns to the main stairs, where the girl from before is still standing.

"Uh" FP says, getting her attention. She looks up at him. She has a small face with big green eyes that stand out on her cream colored skin. "Are you lost of something?" FP asks her. FP takes a notice of her tie color; blue like Fionna's. _She must be a Junior,_ he thinks.

"Yes, um hi, I have no idea where I'm supposed to go." She has a small voice, almost comical , and it's very high pitched.

"Are you new here?" FP blurts out, she looks a little taken aback when he says that so he quickly adds, "I'm a senior here and I've never seen you around."

"Yeah, well I just transferred and, well, I don't quite know my way around." Her uniform is exactly like Fionna's: dark blue skirt, white shirt, knee high socks, and black Mary Janes, with a blue tie around her neck. Her bag is the only thing that stands out. It's a tan, over the shoulder, hippie-tote bag. There's a key-chain of a white and beige, fluffy cat tail hanging from one of the silver loops at the side. "Can you help me?" She squeaks out.

"Uh," FP looks at his watch. It's been ten minutes since class started and he didn't really feel like going to his Government and Economics class. Remembering his pass from Miss Cinnabun, he smiles at the girl saying "Sure" happily.

Her face becomes elated, "Thanks! Here," she hands him the schedule and school map given to her by her counselor. He takes one look at the map and chuckles.

"Here's your problem," he says, "This map is totally useless." He crumbles the paper and tosses it aside. He proceeds to walk down the left corridor, studying her schedule intently, the girl walking behind him. Suddenly he stops and the new girl nearly bumps into him.

"Melissa Montessori?" What kind of name is that?"

"It is the name my mother gave me," she says proudly, "Do you have a problem with that?" She puts her hands on her hips, tying to look tough, but her high pitched voice only makes her look cute.

"Haha, no, it's just a mouthful."

"Well, at my old school they used to call me Me-mow, if you want you can-" FP bursts out into laughter.

"Me-mow?!" He says between breaths, "You've got to be kidding with me." She crosses her arms and starts to pout. That pose only makes FP laugh even more.

"I'm not!" She stomps her foot, "What's your name anyways?"

"Ember," he's finally recovered his breath, "But you can call me Flame Prince." He gives Me-mow a seductive and playful smile. Her face turns redder than Ember's hair.

"Why would I call you that?"She tries to hide her face.

"Because I'm smoking hot and will get going with just a small spark." He smirks as he says this.

Her eyes widen when he says this and the color doesn't leave her face. "Aren't you supposed to be telling me where to go Mister Flame Prince?" she asks with a sarcastic voice.

"Right, this way," he starts walking down the hall, giving her details on how the school runs, where to sit at lunch and the places to skip class. "Well this is your stop," he announces as they reach her class.

"Thanks Ember," she smiles at him, "I'll see you around." Me-mow enters the classroom leaving FP to stand alone in the hallway.

"Yeah, see ya" he says to the closed door, a goofy smile on his face.

"Hey Pepper," FP calls out as he places his plate down at the usual table. "You are like an FBI computer, right? You know everything about everyone at this school."

Pepper takes in a deep breath before saying, "That would be the CIA computer, flame-boy, and not just everyone at this school but everyone in general." She takes a sip of strawberry milk, "But I suppose you are, in a sense, right." She places a strand of red hair behind her ear and takes a carrot off her plate. "What information do you need?" FP takes his usual seat in front of Pepper and Fionna, who was too busy playing with her food to notice his arrival. Totally ignoring Fionna, FP gets down to business.

"What do you know about a Junior named Melissa Montossory?"

"Not much more than you if you are going to eat those peaches." Pepper says, eyeing FP's bowl of peaches and whipped cream. FP slides the bowl across the table, Pepper never gave out information without getting something in return.

"Now spill, Peppermint."

She smirks at the sound of her nickname. "Okay, well she is a transferred student from another school that I have yet to look into. There aren't too many details of her yet. Age 16, horoscope sign Leo. She was an orphan up until age six, when she got adopted. She was taught good manners and is a very optimistic person. Takes regular courses and is a B student. I cannot pinpoint exactly which high school she came from." Pepper pauses to eat a cold peach slice, "My guess is that either she came from a private school or was homeschooled."

"Why did she move here in the end of the semester? I mean there's only a couple of months left."

"It appears that her mother was born in this town and recently got a chance to open up a bakery in the plaza across from where the Candy Kingdom stands."

"So then she's here because of her mom's job?"

"Precisely"

"What about her dad?"

"All I could get was that his name is Timothy."

"If she just moved here, where is she staying?"

"In her mother's old home." She says, "In case you are wondering, it's a cute townhouse in the rich boondocks." Pepper takes another bite of her peaches, "Why are you so interested in this girl anyways?"

"I bumped into her this morning and I found her interesting."

"More like you found the fact that she had no idea who you were interesting." Pepper smirks.

"How'd you know that she didn't know who I was?"

"I'm a CIA computer, remember?" She puts the last slice of peach into her mouth before continuing, "Want to know something even more interesting?" FP nods. "She is headed this way and, for a usually upbeat person, she does not look happy." FP turns his head back to see Me-mow making her way to their table, heavy food plate in hand, carrying a dirty look in her eye. A dirty look that is being directed at Pepper.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	5. Chapter 5

"Mind if I sit here?" Me-mow asks with her cute little high pitched voice.

"Nah, go ahead." Flame says while he pulls his backpack off the extra chair. He forgot about the mean look on Me-mow's face as soon as he saw her smile.

"Thanks," she takes a seat, "sorry if I'm disturbing you guys, I had no where else to sit." She flutters her eyes at Pepper.

"Oh no, it's fine, it's not as if we were discussing anything important," Pepper says with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"Really?" Me-mow's voice matches Pepper's tone, "then what were y'all talking about?" She narrows her eyes at Pepper.

"Nothing that you will find interesting," Pepper gets up from her seat, "Now if you excuse me, I have a research project that needs working on." To FP she says, "We'll talk later, ok? And take care of her," she nods her head to Fionna, who is too busy playing with her food and blasting music through her headphones to notice the rest of the group, "who knows how many walls she'll run into if you don't walk her to class." She picks up her plate and starts to walk to the cafeteria doors.

"I will," FP calls out to her but Pepper is already out the door.

"She doesn't seem to like me," Me-mow says in a sad tone, completely different than when she was talking to Pepper.

"Who? Pepper? Haha, she doesn't like anyone. I'm amazed she can tolerate a jock like me, but don't sweat it, she just has to get to know you better. You'll see, she'll open up to you eventually."

"How well do you know her?"An edge is starting to form in her voice.

"Pretty well, I guess."

"Pretty well?"

"Yeah, I mean, we are friends."

"Just friends?"

"Yeah"

Me-mow seems to contemplate this idea for a while as she looks somberly down at her food. Her attitude changes again as she says, "Okay, but who is she?" She's looking at Fionna now.

"This is Fionna," FP nudges Fionna on the shoulder, "Fi, say hi."

"Huh?" Fionna snaps out of her daydream and takes notice of Me-mow. "Oh hi there." Her tone is uninterested and awkward., she takes an earbud out.

"Fi, this is Me-mow, she's new here. She's also in your grade."

"Oh, cool, did you need someone to show you around?" Fionna asks politely

"That's ok, I already decided that I want Ember to give me a tour of the school." she says as she takes a hold of FP's left arm.

"Um, ok." Fionna moves her bangs out of her eyes and picks up a potato chip, placing it in her mouth carefully. All the while watching Me-mow.

Me-mow directs her attention to FP, "Come on, Ember, it's a big campus and I still don't know where my next classes are. You don't want me to get lost again, do you?"

"Ha, well that'd give me an excuse to come to your rescue again."

Me-mow slaps his arm playfully, "Meanie"

"As if," FP picks up their trays, "Fi, don't forget you work later. I'll go by the Candy Kingdom with the guys after practice, 'kay?"

Fi slumps down in her seat, "Yeah, yeah, what-evs" she watches the two take off as she places her earbud back in. There was something about Me-mow that made her uncomfortable. She hadn't heard the entire conversation but she got the feeling the Pepper left becasue of her apperance. She forgets her uneasy feeling as soon as the bell rings. She has other important—more Marshall Lee-y—stuff to think about to deal with this new conflict.

"Hey, how was school?" A familiar voice greets Fionna as she walks through the doors of the Candy Kingdom.

"Hey Bella" Fionna greets her as she enters the employee's room, "It was ok, there's a new girl in my grade."

"Cool, name?"

"Not sure, Me-something, i think"

"Ok," Bella says, "so how are you and the King?"

"We've been better" She responds as she changes.

"Aww, don't tell me y'all are having problems already."

"It's nothing major. He forgot we had a date so I was spending time with a friend and he got all mad."

"Well you know how he is, he just loves you a lot." Bella tries to stay positive.

"I guess"

"Fionna!" Cake bursts into the employee's lounge, her bulging tummy bouncing around, with an annoyed expression. "Now is not the time for chit-chat, hurry up and change, you have work to do." She turns on her heal and returns to the kitchen.

"Geez, who pulled on her kitty tail?"

"Dunno, she's been like that for a while. Must be all the pregnancy hormones."

"Yeah you're telling me. Why does she want me to hurry up, it's not even busy." Fi whines as she ties her apron.

"Busy or not, work is work." Bella takes her place behind the bar. The Candy Kingdom didn't get many customers on Tuesday afternoons, so Fi leans against the bar and watches Bella clean her area. "So how come the King hasn't been around. We aren't getting many customers because of that, you know." Everyone who worked at the Candy Kingdom had gotten used to calling Marshall the "King" He was the main attraction and the reason people came to the Candy Kingdom. Without him, the Candy Kingdom was just a place to eat sweets.

"Dunno, he has some sort of paperwork to do. It keeps him busy most of the time, but I find it so boring." Fionna takes an apple flavored lollipop off the counter and sticks it in her mouth.

"That drags, Cake's stressing about finding music entertainment. Last week she hired LSP's boy band. It was an absolute mess, no one showed up for days after they played."

"That's awful, I wonder who she'll get this week."

"Some guy with a box on his head." Bella replies

"How do you know?" Fionna says with sudden interest.

"Because I'm looking at him right now." Fionna looks over her shoulder to the stage. Sure enough, some one with a robot head box is setting up his system. She turns over to face Bella.

"Who's that?"

"Not sure, but he looks like a DJ."

"Yeah," Fionna looks back again, "I hope he's good."

No more than fifteen minutes later, the Candy Kingdom starts to fill up with the usual crowd along with some college people Fionna hadn't seen before. Soon Fionna is busy bringing assorted goodies to booths and drinks to people standing. Seeing her struggle, Bella switches with Fi and gives her her position at the bar. The Candy Kingdom is exceptionally crowded and Fionna didn't notice that the DJ had started playing long ago. Finding her comfort zone, Fionna unknowingly starts moving to the beat. This gathers a crowd around the bar as college guys take out their phones and record her, while college girls try to copy her moves. Soon she has stopped making drinks and is dancing to her heart's content behind the bar, the crowd cheering her on.

"Let's give it up for the Candy Kingdom's sexy bartender," an electronic voice calls out, "Fionna!" The crowd goes wild at the sound of her name. Fionna's panting at this point but she still manages to smile widely. Dim lights come on, signaling that closing time is near. The crowd of people starts to dissolve, but a group of guys linger at the bar.

"Mind if we post this online?" One of them asks her.

"Nah go ahead, just make sure to tag the Candy Kingdom when you do." Fionna replies

"Hey hey hey, she's still a minor!" Cake's motherly voice shoos them away from the bar and out the door, "Woow!" Her mood changes into an exhilarated tone, "What a crowd! That was the best we've ever done!" Cake beams at Chrome in excitement.

"Bella, Fi, y'all are free to go once your stations are clean. Don't forget all tips are yours."

"Thanks Cake." Fionna quickly gets her area cleaned up and her tips counted. Feeling like she is done with her work, Fionna grabs her book bag from the employee's room and leaves out the back door. Slow clapping meets her ears as soon as she steps outside.

"There she is," A voice came from the shadows, "the steamy barista that stole the all the attention of the boys. Miss Fionna Ward!" BMO leans against a blue pacific coupe parked on the backside of the Candy Kingdom.

Fionna makes her way over to him and punches him playfully in the arm. "Haha thanks, did you watch the show BMO?"

"Watch the show?" He gives her a false hurt expression, "Hunny I was the show! Haven't you ever heard of Boxhead BMO? The hottest DJ around?"

"That was you?" Fionna giggles

"Yeah, did you think all that equipment in my room was just for decoration?" He gives her an amused laugh and a crooked smile, "Anyways, you need a ride? Or are you going to walk while your lovestruck, horny fans are lingering around the corner."

Fionna's face goes red, "Depends," she moves to the drivers side of the car, "can I drive?" BMO gives her his crooked smile again and jingles the keys in front of her face.

"Be my guest." Surprised at his response, Fionna smiles widely and jumps into the driver's seat.

"You know how to drive right?"

"Yeah, sometimes Cake lets me take Chrome's car around the block."

"Alright, just don't wreck my baby."

"You can trust me." BMO sits in the passenger's seat and Fionna takes off to the Treehouse. When she looks in the rear view mirror, she notices the robot head sitting in the backseat. "What's with the robot box head anyways?" she asks.

"Gotta protect my identity, any good DJ does it, there's some that wear horse masks, mouse heads, and even just a blank boxes. It's cool and adds to the fun of techno music."

"Does it get hot under it?"

"Definitely, especially after watching you dance." Fionna's face turns red and she stomps a little too hard on the break. BMO laughs "Haha, chillax kid, I can't really see outta that thing. I'm just teasing you."

"You better be." Fionna parks the car on the curb and gets out.

"What if I'm not?" BMO asks as he exits the car. They walk together to the front door. He unlocks it and holds it open for her, giving her a small gentleman's bow.

"Then, you're a terrible flirt." Fionna giggles at him and enters the Treehouse only to walk straight into a sleep deprived Marshall Lee. He looks extremely tiered as he stands in the middle of the hallway, his arms crossed.

"Who's a terrible flirt?" Marshall Lee asks, venom in his voice. Fionna looks up and meets his eyes, weariness and hurt laid in them.

"Hey Marshy, what are you still doing up?"

"Don't 'Marshy' me," His tone is now a little harsher than before, "Where, in the name of glob, have you been?!"

"Working, like always. Some of us actually have to work in order to make money." She replies sarcastically.

"Oh really?" He leans his body against the wall, "So then why are you coming home giggling with him." He nods his head in BMO's direction, who's leaning nonchalantly against the door frame, mocking Marshall Lee's posture.

"He gave me a ride." She says as-a-matter-of-factly

"Why?"

"Because last time I walked I ended up in the hospital, glob Marshall you are so inconsiderate." Her anger began to rise

"Next time, call me." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order, "Or get Cake to drop you off."

"Why should I?"

"Because you are my girl."

Fionna rolls her eyes "I'm not just your girl, I'm also my own person!"

"Whatever, go to bed, you have school tomorrow."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Fionna yells at him as she brushes past him to her room "I'm not a little kid." she says under her breath.

Marshall Lee can't help but talk back, "Well, don't act like one." He turns around to face her.

"Look who's talking!" Fionna slams her bedroom door and locks it. Marshall rolls his eyes, and turns back to BMO.

"Stay away from my Fi." He says threateningly.

"Your Fi? I thought I just heard her say she was her own person." Marshall Lee looks at BMO with rage in his eyes. "Besides, I don't choose who Fi hangs out with, that's up to her." He goes around Marshall and his stare to his bedroom door, "And if she chooses to hang out in my room or drive my car, it's not my fault."

"You piece of -"Marshall swings his right arm to hit BMO in the face but instead makes contact with the wall as BMO slams the door to his room. "Just you wait! I won't allow you to get your hands on my Fi! I'll make sure of that." On the other side of the door BMO lets out a deep breath and laughs quietly to himself.

"We'll see about that."

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Flame," Fionna says as she sits down next to him in cooking class. He seems strangely distracted as he just sits there, not juggling food or making the other girls in class laugh, staring at the daily recipe Gumball left out for them. "You okay?" She asks

"Yeah" He replies without looking up from the paper in his hands.

"Okay, well how come you haven't been to the Candy Kingdom this past week?"

"Yeah, I have."

"No, you haven't," Fi tells him, "I've been working all week and not once have I seen you in there."

"Oh" He stays quiet

"It's because he's been hanging out with that Me-mow girl." Pepper pips up from across the kitchen.

"All week?" Fionna asks her

"Yup" Pepper says slightly annoyed

"How do you know?" Fi has a skeptical tone in her voice.

"I know everything," She looks at FP, "Just like I know she's bad news."

"Oh hush up Peppermint, you're just jealous." Flame snaps at her.

"Actually Flame," Fionna says, "I'm not too comfortable with her either."

"Why would I be jealous of that pip-squeak?" Pepper asks completely ignoring Fionna.

"Because, she's cute and sweet and friendly. And you are just a weirdo-know-it-all!" Pepper's face gets red with anger and Fionna sternly looks at Flame.

"Flame, that wasn't nice. Pepper is your friend and you shouldn't tell her stuff like that." Pepper's eyes had started swelling up with tears and she was beginning to breathe hard. Flame, who had kept his gaze down at the paper, finally brought up his eyes to meet Pepper's. Instantly he regrets what he said.

"Okay class," Gumball strolls in, late like always, "Let's begin." At the sound of his voice, Pepper runs out of the classroom, hands hiding her face.

"See what you've done." Fi gives Flame an angry look, "You better apologize." She grabs Peppermint's stuff and goes after her, leaving Flame with only his sour feelings.

At lunch time, Pepper, who is usually the first to arrive, is a no show. Instead Fionna is sitting at their usual table, eating a homemade lunch. FP grabs his lunch tray and takes a seat next to Fi.

"Where is she?" He asks

"She is too angry with you to come eat." Fionna replies

"Oh." FP glumly looks at his plate.

"Where's your little girlfriend?" Fi asks

"Me-mow isn't my girlfriend."

"I didn't say Me-mow."

"But you meant her." FP says. Fi doesn't deny it but simply eats her sandwich and chews slowly. "She went home early," FP tries to break the silence, "Felt sick of something." There is an awkward silence that transpires between the two of them.

"You really hurt Pepper, you know." Fionna finally says. FP takes on an ashamed look when she mentions Pepper's name.

"I know"

"And you really need to apologize to her."

"I know"

"She's only trying to take care of you,"

"Why?" FP mutters under his breath, "why does she need to take care of me? She's just a little girl after all. How is she going to take care of a guy older than her?!" He wasn't shouting but was close to it.

"Well you don't always make good choices when it comes to dating."

"Neither do you." He didn't mean to say it out loud, but it was too late.

"Hey this isn't about me."

"Just out of curiosity," FP continues with his sarcasm and angry tone, "how are you and the King doing?"

Fionna hesitates before she answers, "Just fine."

"Is that why you've been working so much? Hiding out at the Candy Kingdom so that you don't have to be at home with him?" Fi looks taken aback and gets defensive.

"You're changing, Flame. This isn't like you, first you make Pepper cry and now you question me on my relationship? What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, Fi. I guess I'm just stressing with all my AP exams coming up and then graduation just around the corner. Beside that applying for financial aid sucks and I'm worried about the scouts coming to the game. If i impress them then I'll get a scholorship for sure but if I don't I won't be playing soccer in my future, it's all just been so nerve-racking."

"Well you shouldn't take out your stress on your friends." She stands up from the table. "When you feel better, come by the Candy Kingdom. Pepper is going to be there and it'll give you a chance to tell her how sorry you are." She starts to pick up her mess, "And just so you know, Pepper isn't jealous of Me-mow. I don't like her either, I think she's bad news, just like Ashley was."

"Ashley was different."

"How so?"

"She used me to get to Marshall. Lucky for you she failed."

Fionna ignores that comment, "And what tells you that Me-mow isn't using you as well?"

"What tells you she is?" Fionna sighs

"Just a feeling. Look, apologize to Peppermint soon or she'll never forgive you."

"Yes mam." He looks like a hurt puppy dog.

"And stay out of my business." Fi says sternly, "Whatever is going on between me and Marshall is none of your concern. If I have anything to tell you then I will." She walks away from the lunch room, once again leaving FP alone.

Me-mow paces back and forth inside the bakery across the street from the Candy Kingdom. She'd left school early because she'd been so nervous about the meeting that she couldn't concentrate. All day she had been dreading this moment.

"Well?" An unkind voice says to her.

"Well what?" Me-mow replies just as rudely

"Why is the Candy Kingdom still standing?"

"It's only been a week."

"And?"

"And I haven't even gained access into the shop."

"Why not? I thought I put you in the same school that Caitlin's head waitress attends to."

"You did" Me-mow says exhaustively

"Then, what is the problem? You were attending that expensive academy to train to infiltrate places such as this. Didn't you learn anything?"

"They have a spy. Someone told the waitress not to trust me and I haven't been able to get close to her."

"Get rid of her. The spy I mean. Do anything you have to do to crush her."

"I think I might just know how." Me-mow says as she looks out the window. At that moment, FP is about to walk into the Candy Kingdom.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	7. Chapter 7

Financial forms, rent payments, and legal documents are scattered all over Marshall Lee's desk. None of these papers make any sense to him, not while he has Fionna stuck in his head. Their little fight had had a dramatic effect on him and she had not come by to apologize for her behavior. Marshall takes another look at his desk, sighing loudly. It's of no use, without Fionna organizing his papers for him everything's a complete mess. He absolutely misses her, but he's not going to tell her that, not with the attitude she had been giving him lately. Instead he takes a look at the stack of sheets and gives in. He reaches for the hand phone and dials an almost forgotten number. He puts the receiver to his ear and waits as the line rings...once...twice...

"Hello?" Someone picks up from the other side of the line.

"Yes, it's me" Marshall says, "Yes, I know you are busy, but I was wondering if you could help me out with something...No, I don't need money, it's more of a business deal I need your help on... Yes I have all the paperwork here...Yes...Okay, how soon can you be down?...Thanks, I really appreciate it...I know...Alright, I'll see you in 3 days. Goodbye." He hangs up the phone and exhales deeply. Now he has to prepare for his tedious guest.

Pepper lays her cheek against the cool counter top of the bar. She watches the water droplets slide off the side of her glass.

"Cheer up," Fi tells her, "You can't let what FP said get you down."

"But it's true," she whines.

"No, it's not Pepper. You're cute and fun to hang out with."

"No, I'm not!" Pepper continues to whine, "I'm a weird stick in the mud know it all who wears the same thing all the time and always follows the rules. And on top of all that, I'm fat too!"

"Pepper," Fi pleads with her, "don't say that. Tell you what," Pepper's face is down against the counter and it almost sounded like she was sobbing, "I'll take you shopping this weekend, yes? Maybe a change of clothes, and environment, will make you feel better."

"You don't have plans with Marshall?" Pepper looks up from the counter, her eyes are a bit red-rimmed.

"Not that I'm aware of." Fi says glumly. Although it's been more than a week since their little fight in the hallway, Marshall still hadn't apologized to her. "Come on Peppermint, it'll be fun."

Pepper stays quiet for a minute, debating whether or not it'd be a good idea to hang out with Fionna. "Alright, I'll go." Fionna smiles widely at her. The little bell above the door of the shop rings, signaling the entrance of a customer. The sound directs Pepper's gaze to the door, as a red-headed boy walks in. Turning her face back to Fionna she says, "I'm going to go now" the once excited expression now gone from her face.

"Are you sure?" Fi asks her as FP starts walking in their direction.

"Yeah, I got homework to do. Besides, Bubba is probably starving since I didn't leave him anything to eat." She jumps off the bar stool.

"Okay, then" Fionna smiles at her weakly, "Hey, you are not fat, okay?"

Pepper gives her a big smile, "Okay." She makes her way to the door, but as she is leaving she notices a small figure trailing behind FP. Me-mow looks at Pepper straight in the eye as they pass each other. It's like a scene from any slow motion movie, as Me-mow blows a bubble with her gum then smiles sarcastically at Pepper when it pops. Flame attempts to call out to Pepper before she leaves but she just ignores him and walks out the Candy Kingdom's doors, her long red and white hair swinging behind her. Instead of chasing after her like in the movies, FP just sighs and walks over to give Fionna a bland greeting.

"Hey Flame, Me-mow," Fi says bitterly, "What brings you two down here?"

"Me-mow wanted to check out the shop." FP says dryly.

"I always see it on my way home but I'd never been inside." Me-mow adds innocently, "Do you mind if I look around?"

"Of course not," Fionna forces a smile, "go right ahead." Me-mow begins to wonder around the store. Fionna looks at FP angrily. "Why did you bring her here?" She whispers harshly.

"I didn't mean to," FP states, "I kind of bumped into her outside."

"And you thought it'd be a good idea to bring her inside?"

"Well I wasn't going to leave her outside like a stray cat."

"You should of"

"Don't be mean, Fi." FP says teasingly, "Mean isn't a good color on you."

"You're the one being mean, you choose this new girl over your friend, you call your friend names, and to top it all off you are too stupid to see that what Pepper and I tell you is the truth and this girl doesn't have good intentions." Fionna says. Pepper's honesty has begun to rub off on Fionna.

"You know what Fi?" Flame says irritatedly, "I don't have to take this. Let's go Me-mow"

Me-mow looks up from where she was examining the stage. "Coming!" she says cheerfully. She skips over to FP and takes his hand in hers, leaving the Candy Kingdom with a smile on her face.

"Who was that?" Cake asks from the opened kitchen door.

"The royal pain in the butt, Flame Prince, and his new girlfriend, Me-mow." Fionna answers with a smug look on her face. She has her arms crossed and is staring intently at the door, almost like she's trying to burn a hole through it.

"Me-mow?" Cake asks with curiosity, "What a peculiar name."

"Yeah well I don't care too much about the person or the name." Fionna sighs, "I'm taking off Cake, I feel sick and the place is dead anyways."

"Okay, sweetie, take care." Cake tells Fionna. She heads back into the kitchen, her thoughts still swirling around the unusual name.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	8. Chapter 8

Fionna wakes up to a light knocking in her bedroom door. She turns to look at her digital clock: 10:00 am, much too early to be up on a Saturday morning. The knocking persists. She sighs and gets up to find little Pepper waiting for her eagerly.

"Morning!" She chimes and makes her way into Fionna's room. Groggy Fi, only nods at her and tries to climb back into bed, but Pepper doesn't give her a chance. She pulls back the covers and sends Fi to the restroom with her toothbrush and a bath towel.

"You have to get ready, Fionna, or else we'll be behind schedule." Pepper says.

Instead of arguing with her, Fionna simply takes her stuff from Pepper and does as she is told. After a good fifteen minutes spent in the shower, Fionna is ready to face any challenge the day has to offer. Little does she know that her first challenge is waiting for her behind the door. As soon as she opens the bathroom door she bumps straight into Marshall.

"Oh, good morning," she says.

"Morning," he replies. He takes a look at her wet hair and blue summer dress, "Going somewhere?" He asks, leaning against the hallway wall with his arms crossed.

"Actually, yes," Fionna begins to gather her stuff from the restroom. Marshall waits in silence for her to tell him more information. When she doesn't, he continues.

"Where to?"

"Why do you care?" Fionna says monotonously.

"Because I care about you." Fi brushes past him and starts to make her way angrily back to her room.

"Oh really? Because you have a strange way of showing it." Marshall's enjoying her sass and chuckles a bit, making Fi more angry. His smirk instantly disappears and he attempts to keep the conversation going.

"Who are you going with?" Curiosity has overtaken his voice. Seeing that his hostile tone is gone Fionna decides to answer him honestly.

"Pepper." They stand in front of her doorway awkwardly.

"Cool, do you guys need a ride?"

"No, Gumball will take us."

"Why does Bubba have to take you?" Marshall hates the idea of not being able to take Fionna where she wanted to go.

"Would you rather I ask BMO?"

"NO!" Marshall says a little too quickly and too loudly. Fionna notices this and gets defensive.

"What's your problem with him?"

"I just don't like the guy."

"Well you need to suck it up."

"Why should I?" Marshall has begun to give her attitude and she is only returning it.

"Because he's not only my co-worker but also my friend and I want you two to get along, but you're not giving him a chance."

"I don't understand why you have to be friends with that dweeb."

Fionna opens her door and grabs Pepper. "Then I don't understand why we have to be together." She says as she leaves the Treehouse, pulling Pepper along with her.

"So how are you liking this town so far?" FP asks Me-mow as they walk together towards the Candy Kingdom. She takes only seconds to reply.

"It's okay, nothing like my old place but I like it."

"I bet you'll like it even more after trying one of the Cake's amazing apple pies."

"I bet I will." Me-mow replies as Flame opens the door for her. The Candy Kingdom had plenty of customers today. It didn't seem like Fionna was around though, just the red-haired waitress, Chrome, and Cake. This is exactly what Me-mow had hoped for when she had suggested that she and Flame should have lunch there.

"Bella, two of Cake's best apple pies and licorice soda, please." FP orders for them as they take a seat in one of the circled tables in the center of the shop. Bella gives him an odd look but places their order and returns to the back. FP sighs, "You sure it was a good idea to come here? Everyone knows that Fionna and I aren't on the best terms and I feel like everyone here is on her side."

"They are just jealous that you're giving me all of your attention. That's what happens when a stud like you starts hanging around a minority like me." FP's face flushes the color of his hair.

"You..." he stutters a bit, "You think I'm a stud?" Me-mow reaches across the table to place her hand on top of his.

"Totally." She finds herself smiling warmly at him. Something about him made her feel at ease, like she could just be herself and not someone she was pretending to be.

"Here's your food.," Bella lets the pies fall down on the table with a little _clank, _causing Me-mow to be startled and move her hand away from FP's. "Enjoy." Bella leaves them to greet some new customers that have just walked in. Remembering her place, Me-mow loudly comments to FP.

"What rude service they have here, seriously, don't they have any manners?" Bella turns back to look at the source of the comment. Me-mow stares at her, raising her eyebrow, trying to provoke her.

"Yeah," FP agrees, "she could have been a tiny bit nicer but I guess she must be having a bad day."

"Bad day or not, I shouldn't have to be the one putting up with her attitude," Me-mow picks up her fork and takes a forkful of apple pie into her mouth. "Oh God! What is this?!" She exclaims when she is done swallowing, "Cat food?! This is absolutely terrible! Yuck!" She takes a sip of her soda, "Ugh, this too! Is this made here? Tastes like piss water!" She makes awful gestures showing how terrible it tastes. Basing their opinion on her reactions to the food, the new customers take their leave. Me-mow sees this and continues, a semi-wicked smile forming. She grabs another forkful and almost instantly drops it to the floor, screeching at the top of her lungs, "Oh my God, how disgusting!" She jumps up from her seat causing the entire Candy Kingdom to turn their attention towards her.

"Me-mow what's wrong?" FP asks

"I just bit into a cockroach! I heard it crunch, I swear! What kind of establishment is this?!"

A few worried customers stopped eating, few ignored the chaos happening, and some got up and left. Seeing the commotion going on, Cake rushes out of the kitchen to stop it. She walks up to Me-mow.

"Me-mow right?"

"Yes, that's right." She responds with attitude, crossing her arms for emphasis.

"Can I know what the problem is?" Cake asks patiently, smiling at the little Me-mow.

"The problem is..." Me-mow announces loudly so that everyone that is still left can hear, "that the service here sucks, your drinks taste awful, and I just bit into this horrible tasting pie and found a cockroach inside. That's the problem."

"Well," Cake says in her kindest voice, "I know how we can fix this."

"Oh really?" Me-mow places a hand on her hip, "How?"

"First, I'll call a health inspector to verify whether or not this place is clean enough to serve food in. If they find anything unusual then I'll make sure to get rid of it." After hearing this, the remaining customers settled down. "Then, I'll ask you to leave this establishment and not come back, since you complained about the food and services. Don't worry about having to pay, it'll be on the house, just please, don't come back."

"Are you kicking me out?" Me-mow asks

"In a way, only because it seems like you don't' want to be here." Cake says kindly.

"Fine, then." Me-mow takes FP by the hand, "Don't expect us to come back. She stares at Cake meanly before stomping out of the Candy Kingdom.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh, Pepper, you look absolutely adorable!" squeals Cake as soon as the girls walk into the Candy Kingdom, an hour and a half after FP and Me-mow's departure. Both girls are carrying four shopping bags in each arm and can't seem to stop giggling.

"Do you really think so?" Pepper's cheeks became a light shade of pink. Cake takes a loose strand of Pepper's red hair and tucks it behind her ear.

"Yes, Peppermint, you look so cute. I could just eat you up, right Gumball?" Gumball, who had walked in with the girls, sits waiting at the bar for his bubblegum milkshake. He had not said a single word on the ride back to the Candy Kingdom, hadn't even turned to look at his young aunt. When he still didn't talk, Cake urged him on. "Bubba, say something sweet to her."

"You look incredibly..." sexy, he wants to say, instead he settles with, "beautiful."

"Yeah, your new look makes you look much more grown up." Bella adds.

Pepper smiles at the floor shyly, her face heating up with all the compliments her friends gave her. With her new look, she looks older than her age. Her long hair had been cut short into a sophisticated bob and held back from her face with navy-colored berets. She no longer wore her usual navy slacks and matching sweater. Those clothing items had been replaced with a black circle skirt and a white button-up and black suspenders along with black flats to finish off the look. Without the insane amount of clothing covering her up, her chest looks much more fuller than before. The makeup Fionna had insisted she put on really brings out her gray eyes and the red on her lips makes her smile shine even brighter. She no longer resembles the smart-mouth little girl she was but, instead, a beautiful, attentive young lady.

"Thank you, Bubba," Even with her new look, her tone of voice when speaking to adults did not falter as she turned her attention to Cake, "Caitlin, how do you feel?"

"Me? Oh I'm fine, sweet pea. Believe it or not, I got all this energy in me, I don't feel that pregnancy stress everyone always complains about." Physically she looks about ready to pop even though she's barely five months along.

"Is it going to be a boy or a girl?"

"Fionna, don't you know?" Pepper says, "Caitlin's having quintuplets."

"Quintuplets?! That's algebraic!"

"Way to go Chrome, you managed to land five." Gumball whispers to Chrome. The boys snicker silently to themselves.

"It is such a blessing, honestly, I've always wanted to have a big family."

"Are you excited for that, Chrome?" Fionna asks.

"Sure" He says, having recovered his breath at last.

"Oh he doesn't show it but he is actually really excited, right sweetie?"

"Excited about what?" BMO walks into the Candy Kingdom carrying his box head with him.

"Nothing," Fionna says, "just the fact that Cake and Chrome are going to have five kids!"

"You're pregnant?" BMO asks, "I thought you were just chubby on the sides." Gumball nearly chokes on his drink. "Just teasing you Cake. Kids, huh. That's pretty neat." He sets his prop on the bar counter. "What about you Fi? Ready for one or two munchkins of your own? If you'd like I can help with that." Pepper's ears become red although the statement is not said towards her.

"Shut up BMO, I know you're just teasing."

"And if he isn't?" Bubba mumbles to himself, loud enough for only BMO, who is standing near him, to hear him. BMO turns to him, placing his index fingers to his lips in a shushing motion. He winks at Gumball before turning back to the rest of the group. Gumball is appalled but not surprised at his suggestion. From time to time he shared the same thoughts.

"I should get going, I have other matters to attend to" Gumball stands up to leave.

"Thank you, nephew, for your encouragement today." The usually uptight Pepper says. She approaches Gumball and gives him a tight squeeze. Surprised Gumball is immobile for a second, then he decides to return the affectious act and hugs her back.

"I'll see you later" he tells her as he leaves the Candy Kingdom.

"Benjamin, if you didn't know already," Cake continues in her motherly tone, "Fionna's heart has already been stolen by someone."

"Are you talking about Lee? I'm not scared of that little bat. He isn't much of a threat after all." Bella and BMO share a laugh, Cake tries hard not to encourage the bullying but can't help but giggle at the image of Marshall's head on a cute little bat body. Even Chrome lets out a small chuckle. The only two that are not amused are Fi and Pepper.

"Alright guys, enough idle talk, let's get back to work" Cake claps her hands and everyone returns to their stations. No more than 15 minutes later BMO lets out a frustrated grunt and plops down on the edge of the stage.

"What's wrong Benjamin?" Pepper comes over to the stage area.

"The system's gone haywire, Peps. Seems like it's totally busted. I don't think I can fix it."

"Let me take a look." Pepper hops on stage and starts fiddling with the keyboard. After a few minutes of tinkering with his equipment Pepper says, "It's been sabotaged, someone's reprogrammed it."

"What?! How is that even possible? I have a code on all my stuff. No one's been back here all day, right Cake?" BMO rises from his place on the stage edge.

"That's right BMO" Cake bounces over, "This area is off limits to everyone"

"Well someone didn't get the memo," Pepper says, "it's been tampered with, and by the looks of it, it took the hacker some time to mess with everything on here."

"Then shouldn't someone have seen that person back here?" BMO asks impatiently.

"Yes, unless they came when no one was around." Pepper concludes

"Well, what are we going to do? Without my system I can't perform."

"Hush darling, let me think" Cake paces back and forth in font of the stage. More people have already started to walk in. The show is supposed to start in twenty minutes. Walking around she spots a girl on her tablet computer with headphones on. She suddenly turns around to look at the two youngsters and nearly shouts, "BMO do you have your laptop with you?!"

"Yeah, it's in my car, why?"

Cake ignores his question, "Go get it," she commands and BMO does as he's told, taking his box head with him.

"Caitlin, what are you planning?" Pepper asks with curiosity

"You'll see Peppermint, I won't be brought down so easily."

The crowd is uneasy. The show should have already started and instead of the famous BMO a cute nerd is onstage with Cake, moving wires around and hooking up his laptop. The guy nods at Cake and she takes the mic. "Thank y'all for coming out tonight, I know y'all are here for BMO but he couldn't make it tonight so instead we got a special treat for y'all" Cake says with a mixture of cheerfulness and worry in her voice. "Tonight is the start of something new, something we will hold here every Wednesday from now on. Give it up for the Candy Kingdom's first ever Karaoke Night!" The crowd goes up in an uproar, the girls cheer and even the guys get excited. "Who's first?" Cake announces and various hands shoot up into the air. Cake passes the mic to BMO and lets him take over. The crowd buzzes with excitement and it is soon filled with laughter, bad singing, and many drink sales. Across the street, Me-mow's face is pressed up against the glass.

"Karaoke night?! You have got to be kidding with me!" The harsh voice scolds her.

"I swear I thought messing with the sound board would affect them badly."

"I don't want you to think, you stupid girl!" The voice shouts at her, "That Cake is smarter than I estimated."

"What do you want me to do?" Me-mow asks.

"I want you to ruin that business! Is that understood, Melissa?"

"Yes, mother."

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	10. Chapter 10

Before the first rays of light struck the earth and the birds had risen to find a morning meal, the annoying sound of his phone ringing woke up Marshall Lee from his slumber. _Great Glob, who the hell is it at this hour?_ He thinks bitterly as he rummages for his phone through a pile of skittles wrappers.

"Hello?" he says groggily into the receiver.

"How in the world do you expect me to help you if you don't open the door?!" an angry voice tells him.

"Gahh. I'm going!" He hangs up not even bothering for the person on the other end to reply. Still half asleep he searches for a clean pair of pants. Not caring for the tousle appearance he has on, he opens his bedroom door and makes his way to the front parlor, where someone is knocking on the front door. Waiting on the other side of the door is a beautiful woman in her mid 40's. Her jet black hair is pulled back in a tight, neat bun. Her pointy ears, adorned with big white pearls, stick out a bit. She has huge sunglasses and is carrying a black umbrella. But it was neither the ears nor the umbrella that makes her look so awkward against the rising morning. It is her outfit that makes her whole persona stand out like a sore thumb. She wears a dark purple pencil skirt and matching blazer with a blood red tie and red pumps. The dark purple makes her olive skin look much paler than intended and her make up looks exaggerated, almost as if she wanted martians to be able to tell that she is a woman. Marshall opens the door to let her in.

"Finally! Ugh, I thought that I was going to melt, had you only left me outside another minute." Heather Abadeer complains to her son.

"Oh wouldn't that have been a shame?" He replies to her, "Why do you insist on coming so early if you despise the sun?"

"Because, dear little Marshy, time is money and running a business is money, therefore, the more time I have the more money I am making." She laughs at her own joke.

Marshall rolls his eyes, "You make no sense" he says

"Once you take over the family business you will understand."

"I've already told you I am not going to take over." Marshall says as he closes the door.

"Oh that's right, you want to stick to your music and owning this dingy little place." She has begun to walk around the house, examining everything. "Doesn't anyone clean around here? It is filthy!" She wonders into the kitchen where Fionna is having breakfast by herself. The tall figure walking into the kitchen catches Fionna's eye. Likewise, the white ears Fionna wears catch Mrs. Abadeer's eye and makes her stop in her tracks.

"Who is this?" she asks with disgust in her tone of voice.

Fionna begins to answer when Marshall cuts her off, "She is no one, just an occupant that lives here." There is a monotonous tone in the way he answered that it hurt Fionna.

Mrs. Abadeer's voice changes to a playful, child-like tone, as she says slowly, "Hello, No One, my name is Heather Abadeer, pleased to make your acquaintance." She extends he hand for Fionna to shake it.

Fionna takes her hand and Heather pulls her out of her chair and into her embrace. "Such fine skin, feels so soft." She says holding Fionna's cheek and softly running here fingers along her collar bone. "I wondeer what it would look like smeared in red."

"Mother." Marshall says sternly, "Stop."

Heather lets go of Fionna, laughing as she says "I was only teasing No One, Marshy, why do you always have to ruin my fun?"

_Mother?_ Scared Fionna thinks as she picks up her bowl and leaves it in the sink. She is trying to walk out unseen when Heather calls out to her.

"No One, wash your dish."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm more than sure you heard me, No One. Wash. Your. Dish." with each word Heather's voice turns sharper and mor commanding.

"Leave it, I will do it later." Marshall says.

"No!" his mother insists, "let her wash it, she was the one who dirtied it after all."

"If she does that, then she will be late to school. It's not a big deal, mother, I will do it later." Marshall and Heather stare at each other with hate in their eyes.

Fionna stands there awkwardly untill Marshall says to her "Didn't you hear me? I said you'll be late to school." She's slightly shocked at his harsh words. She can do nothingn but stand motionless and watch the staredown. "Leave." he commands, and she scurries out of the kitchen, grabs her keys, and immediately exits the Treehouse, upset with Mashall's rigid attitude.

"You've gotten soft Marshall, don't tell me that girl means something to you."

"No, she means nothing to me. She's just another person that lives here. Now can we please get down to business?"

"My pleasure" Heather Abadeer says with a sneer.

A disturbing sobbing noise attracts Gumball's attention. There shouln't be any students inside the building, for the bell had not rung yet. The sobbing came from the stairwell. As he gets closer, he finds that the crying belongs to a girl. Fionna. She sits on the very last step, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head buried between her knees. He sets his pink cofee cup down and takes a seat next to her. She takes no notice of him and continues to cry. He finally clears his throat and asks her "Are you ok?"

"No!" she replies, still crying.

"What's wrong?" he asks, genuinely concerned.

"Marshall's such a poopoohead." She lifts her head up from her knees and rests her face into Gumball's shoulder.

Chills run up and down Gumball's body at the unexpected hot breath on his neck. He puts an arm around Fionna's shoulder. "What happened?"

Quickly, she retold the events that had occurred that morning. "How could he be like that? I thought he loved me." She sobs more, staining Gumball's pink shirt.

"Fionna, some guys don't realize how precious something is untill they lose it. They choose to toss away all the good things in their lives without realizing how good they have it. Don't fret over the stupid things Marshall says, you are a beautiful young lady and any guy would be lucky to have you."

By this time, Fionna had stopped crying. Her eyes are red and her nose is stuffy. "You really think so?"

"Yes Fionna, I really think so." His eyes show sincerity.

"Oh, thank you Gumball." Fiona embraces Gumball in a tight hug, pressing her chest against his body. The bell rings and Fionna runs off to class, saying, "I'll see you in class" as she leaves.

Gumball stays seated on the stairs, his body still tingling with the feeling of Fionna's breath on his neck and her body against his. It seems as if he is going to be late for class once more.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	11. Chapter 11

"So, do you want to hangout afterschool today?" FP asks Me-mow as they get their lunch and sit down in a corner booth.

"Can't, my mother wants me home." She says with a grim expression. She picks at her food solemnly.

"You've been spending a lot of time at home lately. We haven't been able to hang out as much."

"I've been busy." She replies, "Studying and stuff."

"Do you think you can find the time to let me take you to Karaoke Night at the Candy Kingdom?"

"No!" she bursts out. FP is shocked at her tone. "No." She says in a softer tone, "My mother doesn't want me to waste my time there."

"Oh," FP says slightly hurt, "Then how about we watch a movie at my place?"

"I told you I'm busy." Her voice is soft.

"Doing what?" FP insists.

"Stuff."

"What type of stuff?" Flame is persistent.

She gets up suddenly angry. "Stuff. Glob Ember can't you let me breathe?" She throws her plate away, not having touched any of her food, and marches out of the cafeteria.

At the same time Me-mow is leaving, a red-haired cutie enters the loud building. FP cannot help but stare while he watches the red and white curls bounce up and down as Pepper makes her way to the lunch line. He notices that he is not the only one who is looking at her as a muscular guy with brown hair meets up with her in line. She smiles at him and starts giggling. FP face gets red and he starts feeling angry as he watches the two interact. Irritated with her inocent laughter he decides to go look for his girlfriend, resisting the temptation to take Pepper away from that guy.

Fionna walks into the Candy Kingdom gaily, but as soon as she sees who is waiting for her she almost turns back. He's talking with the new girl, Deatha. He appears to be in deep conversation with her, he might not notice if Fionna slips out the door quietly, and pretends she never enters. Cake and Chrome weren't going to be at the shop today so she could just text Bella that she wasn't feeling too well and had to go home. After all, with Deatha working there now, it shouldn't be too much work on Bella. She contemplates this for a bit and decides to go home. Marshall Lee's voice stops her.

"Fionna" Marshall gets up to greet his bunny-eared girlfriend with a hug, but she goes around him instead, leaving him with his arms opened. She shows no emotion as she walks with pride past him.

"I thought I was No One." She enters the employees Lounge, hoping that he would leave. Instead he follows her into the small room.

"Are you mad at me?" He asks, not bothering to close the door behind him.

"Mad? Me? Why would I be mad at you?" she responds with a mocking tone, "Why would I, your girlfriend, be mad that you told your mother, the woman that gave life to you, that I was no one important?" She turns to face him.

"Oh come on, bunny, I didn't mean it." He starts to say before she rudely cuts him off.

"If you didn't mean it then why would you tell her that? Are you ashamed of me? Am I not worthy enough to be dating the great Vampire King? Do you have to hide me from your family because I'm not good enough?" She has tears in her eyes now.

"No! That's not it." He tries to approach her but she flinches, he sighs, "You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't understand? I may be blonde but I'm not stupid Marshall!" Her voice had been rising with every word.

Bella peeks through the open door. She spots Marshall and a crying Fionna. "Marshall, you need to leave. This room is for employees only."

Annoyed with the situation, Marshall snaps back at her. "I am an employee."

Bella, always protective of Fi, will not put up with his nonsense. "Not anymore. Your band no longer plays here. Night O' Sphere has been replaced."

"By who?"

"By me." BMO puts his hands on Bella's shoulders and moves her out of the way. Fionna is trying to wipe the tears away, not wanting BMO to see, but he instinctively moves in to give Fi a hug. Once he's holding her, she begins to sob hard into his chest. BMO turns to Marshall. "You no longer work here, so you need to leave." They look at one another. Marshall's hands ball up into fists. BMO keeps his cool and merely gives him a stony stare, holding Fionna tighter.

"This isn't over." Marshall says. He rudely pushes past Bella and Deatha who had gathered at the door.

Before he has a chance to exit the Candy Kingdom, Fi breaks BMO's embrace and runs out of the lounge to say, "Marshall, I think it is."

He stops in his tracks, his ears turning red, but he doesn't turn back. Instead he slams the door as he steps out into the chilly afternoon daylight.

Fionna watches him leave. BMO wraps his arm around her shoulder. She leans her head on his chest, noticing that he was taller than Marshall, as well as buffer. She also notices that he smells like copper. She feels warm and safe inside his embrace. A feeling she longed for since Marshall stopped paying attention to her.

"Cheer up bunny," BMO says, "You don't need dumb guys like him in your life."

Fionna sniffles, "Yeah, your right"

"Now go wash off that pretty little face of yours. Your fans will be here soon," He says to her warmly

"Are you saying I need make up to impress guys?" She asks, still sniffling.

"Not at all, love," BMO grabs her cheeks gently with both hands. He looks at her baby blues with his own blue-green eyes. "I think you are perfect the way you are." He gives her a small kiss on the forehead, not caring that Bella and Deatha were staring at the two with their mouths agape.

"Thanks BMO," Fionna says smiling, "you're too sweet to me."

"That, I am." BMO responds with a rather cold smile of victory upon his face.

(c) 2014 Cynthia Hernandez


	12. Chapter 12

"It's all his fault!" Marshall yells as he paces around the kitchen. Gumball sits at the kitchen table, sipping tea and checking his e-mail, vaguely interested in his conversation with Marshall. Marshall continues to complain, "BMO's the cause of all this. He is the reason Fi and I are fighting! The reason she hates me right now. He's totally messed with her head. What type of name is BMO anyways? A stupid one. Hahaha" he laughs at his own lame joke. Gumball doesn't mind him too much, instead he wonders where his cute aunt has wondered off to. Marshall continues to walk around the room, "I must get rid of him. Once he is out of the picture, everything will go back to normal and Fi will love me again."

Bubba isn't really paying attention. He's known Marshall for quite a while now and he's figured that the best way to deal with a pist off Lee is to just agree with what he says and pretend to be interested in the conversation. "How?" He asks without thinking.

"Good question Bubba, how?" Marshall continues to pace.

Uninterested Gumball tries to think. He and Marshall have become good friends and he does not appreciate seeing him in distress. He thinks of BMO and his commentary towards Fionna the other day. He doesn't really like BMO. Maybe it was his care free attitude or his bluntness. Whatever the case Gumball says to Marshall. "You know, the whole problem began when he moved in. You didn't like him from the start, right? But you couldn't do anything about it since Simone had already sign his leasing contract. If Cake hadn't moved out, Simone wouldn't have rented him the spare room."

"Are you suggesting I kick him out?" Marshall stops his pacing to face Gumball.

"I said no such thing." Gumball says, "But, since you are in charge of this place, you do have control of who you allow to live here." Without Pepper there to chide him, Gumball felt that he can say as he pleased and truely take part in a discussion.

"Bubba, you are a genious, tell me more." Marshall flips a chair around to sit across from Gumball. Gumball takes a sip of his tea and closes his pink laptop shut.

"Well, you'd need a good reason to dismiss him from living here." Marshall lets his head sink into his arms. This looks harder than trigonometry problems. Seeing his anguish, Gumball continues, "I'm sure that if the tenants are not behaving in a manner that is well conducted and proper, that would be a good reason to let them go."

"That's it" Marshall rises quickly from his chair and, with a loud voice and happy tone he exclaims, "BMO must go!"

"It's been a month, Me-mow! One month!" Her mother lashes out at her, "Why did I enroll you into the Guild of Assassins if you can't even ruin a business. I'm not asking you to kill anyone, yet, I just want you to dispose of everyone in the Candy Kingdom, except Cake. But you can't do it. You are useless to me, Me-mow" Her mother takes a seat in one of her own shop's empty tables. She massages her temples out of frustration. "It's that red-haired boy isn't it? He's the one holding you back. Do I have to off him as well?"

Me-mow wants to shout, wants to say something, but is, instead, frozen in place.

"None-the-less, I have a plan." Her mother gets up and strolls over to the counter on the far end of the shop. "Since all your schemes have failed I devised my own." Reaching the counter, she looks down with an evil smirk at her masterpiece. She picks up the pie that was sitting on the counter ever so delicately.

"See this, Me-mow?" She does not wait for an answer. "This meat pie is filled with enough poison to kill a human being. I want you to drop it off at the Candy it to Cake. Tell her you felt bad for your rudeness the other day and this is your way of apologizing or some glob like that. She'll surely take it, since she is stupid and naive. Make sure she is the one that eats it."

Turning back to put the pie down on the counter top, Me-mow's mother stops curiously and sniffs the air around her. "What is that smell?" She asks her daughter. "It smells like...peppermints." She steps back to look around the counter and snatches an arm.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here, Me-mow. I think I found the spy you were talking about." She pulls the girl onto her feet then pushes her onto the floor, where she stumbles and falls hard on the ground.

"Who are you?!" Pepper says boldly. The woman who threw her down stares at her with an evil smile. She has yellow, choppy hair and wears an ugly pink t-shirt. She has on gray-blue capris with matching socks and brown shoes. She doesn't look much older than Cake, in fact, if it weren't for her horrid outfit and wrinkling at the eyes, Pepper would think she was younger.

"Who am I? Who are you?" She laughs at her. A wicked, evil laughter that sends chills all over Pepper's body.

Me-mow approaches her with wide eyes, "Pepper?"

"What's this?" Her mother looks at her daughter then at the girl on the floor. "You know this girl?"

"We go to the same school. She's friends with the blonde waitress at the Candy Kingdom." Me-mow says quietly.

Her mother gives Pepper another wicked smile, "Nice to meet you Pepper, I am Timothy."

"Timothy? But you're a woman." Pepper says

"Oh that's so sexist. Putting gender to names. How cliche!" Pepper is sprawled on the floor before them. "Knowing my name won't help you very much. Now that you've heard our plan I'll have to keep you quiet. Don't want you running your mouth over to that precious Cake of yours now do I?" Timothy turns to her daughter, "Lock her up, I don't want to see her face."

"Why are you doing this?" Pepper says as Me-mow steps nearer to her. She stumbles to get back on her feet but Me-mow grabs her by the arm and pulls her to her feet. She twists her arm against her back. Pepper lets out an agitated squeal.

Shoving her across the room she whispers to her, "You wouldn't understand."

"You're trying to kill Cake, but why?" Me-mow throws Pepper into a storage room in the back of the shop.

"Like I said," Me-mow repeats, "You wouldn't get it."

"I knew you were evil. I knew you couldn't be trusted. Were you using Ember too? Was he just part of your plan to destroy the Candy Kingdom?" Pepper spats out at her, vile angers dripping off her voice.

"Of course he was," Timothy says, "We will use anyone to achieve our goal, no matter the cost, no matter the damage done." She laughs cruelly. "Well enjoy your time in the closet dear, we will be back for you later."

"How dare you toy with his feelings! He trusted you! He actually liked you!"

Me-mow is stunned at her words. With no reply from her her mother quickly says, "Well honey, that was his mistake."

The closet door is closed, shutting out the light. The last thing she sees is Me-mow's sad face as she stares into Pepper's eyes, silently begging for help. A lock clicks, and with it goes Pepper's chances of escape.

(c) 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	13. Chapter 13

"Cake! Whose is this?!" Fionna calls out as she enters the diner in the early morning. A meat pie had been left on the counter and it look absolutely delightful. "Cake?!" Fionna calls out again. There is a light coming from the backroom so Fionna makes her way towards it hoping to find Cake busy in the kitchen.

"She isn't here." Bella answers instead as she washes dishes. "She and Chrome went to the doctor's today for an ultrasound. They left us in charge." Bella scrubs furiously away at a dirty glass.

"Well do you know whose pie that is out in the front?" Fionna tosses a yearning glance at the bar counter.

"Yeah, that little cat-like girl dropped it off early, before I even opened she was standing outside. She said it was for Cake, as an apology for being rude the other day."

"Me-mow?" Fionna says admiringly, "Wow, that's oddly nice of her." Fionna puts on her apron and ties up her hair. "Do you think Cake would mind if I take a bite or two?"

"She's never denied us food before." Bella replies

"Math! Do you want a piece too, Bella?"

"Nah it's cool, I don't eat meat."

"More for me!" Fi says cheerfully. Fionna grabs a fork and a clean plate and takes her place at the bar. She cuts off a huge slice for herself. She takes a forkful and is about to enjoy the absolutely harmless-looking pie when she notices FP standing outside the shop. She sighs heavily and puts her fork down.

Opening the door for her friend she asks, "What are you doing here? We haven't opened yet." She almost reprimands him.

"I came to apologize to Pepper before I go out of town for the championship game. I know I'd been acting like a jerk lately and I just wanted to let her know how sorry I am." A spring breeze enters the shop. Fionna quivers at the unexpected breeze and invites FP inside.

"It's great that you realize your mistake, Flame, but Pepper isn't here. I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon. Have you tried calling her?"

"No, I want to tell her face to face. It won't mean anything if I do it over the phone. You know how she is." Flame takes a seat on one of the bar stools. Fionna stands behind the counter, as is her usual place.

"You're right. You can try asking—" Fionna almost lets slip Gumball's name but then she remembers that no one knows about the living arrangement of Aaa Academy's home economics teacher and the Candy Kingdom's favorite blonde waitress. Although Flame knows that Pepper is his aunt, he is not awared that his phone number is in Fionna's phone. Fionna shakes her head. "She's probably at the doctor's with Cake and Chrome. Cake's quintuplets fascinates her, it's only obvious she'd go to the ultrasound visit."

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Flame's concerned face makes Fionna's heart lighten a bit as she decides to forgive him for all he's done.

"Bella didn't say." Curiosity rises in Fionna's head as she asks "Why now? The apology, I mean. Glob Flame, I'd been telling you to apologize for the longest time and you never listened to me."

"Me-mow said it'd be best if I apologize and have Pepper forgive me. Although she thinks Pepper was the one who needs to apologize for not supporting our relationship. After all, Pepper has been kind of mean to Me-mow since we started dating. But Me-mow said I should be the bigger person and just say that I was sorry, even if there's nothing I should be sorry for."

"Oh" Fionna sighs, disappointed with Flame. She wanted his apology to be from the heart. Turns out his apology didn't really mean anything. FP catches a glimpse of the meat pie sitting on the counter-top.

"Hey, what's this?" He says sliding the pie closer to him.

"Meat pie." Fionna says tonelessly.

"Do you mind if I have a slice?" His eyes were glimmering with gluttony. Soccer players were always hungry and they seemed to have an endless pit for a stomach. She hands him the piece she had served herself. After taking the slice and slowly swallowing to savor the taste, Flame's eyes shine even brighter with fascination. "Oh Glob this is amazing!" He finishes off his piece, "Could I have some more?" He hold his plate up like a smitten puppy. Fionna gives him the rest of the pie.

"Knock yourself out." Fionna remarks, not knowing how true her unintentional phrase would become as FP chomps down three quarters of the meat pie.

BMO exits his darkened out room to go downstairs for some breakfast. On his way back up he notices a paper taped to his door. He tears the paper off his door and scans the contents quickly. After reading it over once, BMO marches off to Marshall's room, his cereal bowl in hand. He knocks loudly, angered by what the paper says. Marshall opens the door slightly and answers oddly calm.

"Yes?" He asks the obviously upset BMO.

"Marshall, what is this?" BMO announces holding up the paper to Marshall's face.

Opening the door completely, Marshall steps out and crosses his arms. He leans on the door frame before answering BMO.

"It's an eviction notice." he responds without even looking at the paper.

"Why was it on my door?" BMO asks sharply.

"Because I'm kicking you out."

"What for?"

"Violation of the Tree House Rules."

"Tree House Rules my ass." BMO says sarcastically, "You just made that up."

"No, I didn't. When you signed your lease, you also signed a contract to abide by all Tree House Rules." Marshall reaches into his room and grabs a paper off his desk. "See." He holds up the paper for BMO to see. There at the bottom left corner of the page was BMO's signature.

"What rules have I violated?" BMO balls his fists in frustration.

Marshall reads off the paper. He has several things highlighted. "The use of electronics after 10:00 PM which causes a disturbance to others, alterations to the electrical outlets, risking a fire hazard, and excessive use of electricity. That's three strikes." Marshall says proudly. BMO can't help but to look at Marshall with angry eyes. Marshall smirks back at him.

"You have three days to get out." Marshall lets him know before returning to his room with a triumphant smile on his face.

(c) 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	14. Chapter 14

Red lights flash in front of the Candy Kingdom. An ambulance is parked on the curb. Timothy watches the scene from her shop. She crosses her arms and looks at the scene with a wicked smile on her face. Across the street the blonde waitress and red-head hippie are in a panic. Her sneer increases as she sees the men pull a gurney into the shop.

"Me-mow, honey, come see our success! After all these years you've finally done something right." She calls out to her daughter. Timid, little Me-mow approaches the window with a sad expression on her face. She watches the shadows inside the Candy Kingdom lift a body onto the gurney. "What's this?" Timothy says angrily. The shadows show that the body is not that of a curvy woman but that of a teenage boy.

"Why can't you ever do anything right?!" Timothy snaps at her daughter. She whips her hand back and slaps her daughter across the face, leaving a red mark on her cheek. "I should have never trusted you with such a task. You are a disappointment to the entire guild!" She walks furiously away from the window. She takes a small pause in front of the storage closet where Pepper has been too quiet for too long.

"Figure out what to do with her. She's a bother and just happens to know a little too much." She tells her daughter flatly. Me-mow just stares out the window without saying a word. "Now, thanks to you, useless girl, I'm going to have to go fix this," her mother continues, "I cannot let that wretched Cake succeed. She must be dealt with at once." She walks out the back door leaving Me-mow alone to watch as they pull the gurney onto the ambulance. She catches a glimpse of fiery red hair and the tears begin to fall quietly down her face.

"Oh no." She whispers to herself. "What have I done?" She sinks her face into her hands as more tears make their way down her pale cheeks. She runs as quickly as she can to the restroom so that she no longer has to look at the spectacle before her. She cannot bare the sight of an unconscious Flame Prince laying lifeless on the gurney as the EMTs put him inside the ambulance. Nor can she stand the fact the Fionna is climbing inside the ambulance with him when she feels that she should be the one to sit by Flame's side in his time of need.

"What's going on here?!" Cake barks out as she enters the hospital room in which Fionna and Bella stand quietly over Flame's bed. FP is hooked up to various machines. The one motoring his heartbeat beeps faintly in the background.

"Sweety, calm." Chrome says as he places a hand gently on her bulging tummy.

"Right," She rests her hand on his cheek, "Sorry love." Chrome touches his forehead to hers and smile at her. She closes her eyes before continuing, "Will someone please explain what the glob is going on with Flame?"

"I can do that." A man with hair as white as his lab coat says as he enters the room. He holds several papers in his clipboard. With his free hand he shakes Chrome and Cake. "Hello, I'm Dr. Aize (Ice) Kreme. Ember is my patient. I have just come back from the lab and the blood results tell me that this boy has been poisoned." Cake gasps, "Unfortunately," Dr. Kreme continues, "we cannot identify exactly what was it that poisoned him."

"It was the meat pie I tell you!" Fionna shouts out, her eyes red.

"Young lady," Dr. Kreme sighs, "as I said before, that's impossible. The poisonous bacteria found in meat will only affect the person if the meat is raw. A meat pie has to be baked with the meat inside of it. Furthermore, there were no traces of that bacteria in the lab work." Fionna presses her lips tightly and shifts her gaze downward, looking like a scolded child. Bella grabs her hand and squeezes. Dr. Kreme continues to talk to Cake.

"Ember is experiencing a high fever, chills, and slight foaming at the mouth and nose area. He also has infrequent episodes of seizure-like activity. In all my years of practice, I have never seen anything like this before." He pauses to look back at the girls, who have both begun to quietly sob.

"May I talk to you outside?" He directs Chrome and Cake outside the room, closing the door behind him. "As you may have already guessed, we don't have a cure for him. Based on his condition and heart rate, that boy has less than ten hours to live."

"Ten hours?!" Cake cries out. Chrome puts his hand on her shoulder. Cake takes deep breaths and starts to fan herself. "Well?! What are you doing still standing here, ding-dong? Go find a cure!" The doctor looks at her with sorrow in his eyes.

"There might not be one." Cake does her best not to cry, but her eyes water up. "I'll leave you with him. I promise to do the best I can." He leaves Cake and Chrome standing in the hallway. After a couple of minutes of Cake silently weeping into Chrome's chest she recollects herself and the two go back inside the room.

"Fionna," Cake says, "what meat pie are you talking about?"

Fionna sniffles, "There was a meat pie waiting for you in the shop this morning. Bella says that Me-mow dropped it off for you before the shop even opened."

"I thought that would be the case," Cake says, "She knows meat pies are my favorite." She mutters. She glances at FP on the bed with all those wires hooked up to his pale body. "Where's Pepper?" She asks after a long silence.

"We don't know," Bella pronounces, "We haven't seen her since yesterday. She wasn't at the Candy Kingdom today. I'm assuming she didn't tag along to your doctor's appointment like we thought."

"No. Not with us." Chrome says.

"We need to get a hold of her, have you tried her cell?"

"She doesn't answer."

"Keep trying. Bella, you and Chrome stay here with Flame. Text Pepper the situation. Even if she doesn't answer, just keep trying to reach her. Fionna you come with me." Cake voice is commanding.

"Where are we going?"

"To fix this junk," Cake states with determination, "I have had it with these shenanigans, It's time I settled this once and for all."

(c) 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	15. Chapter 15

Pepper's phone vibrates loudly on the tile floor. Memow sits with her back to the storage closet door, her knees pulled up to her chest, letting the phone vibrate without acknowledging it. She rests her arms on her knees, supporting her head as she quietly sobs into her hands. When the phone is finally silent, she lifts her gaze to watch the flashing red light indicate that a new message has been received. Memow swipes the screen open, not caring for Pepper's privacy.

Pepper, where are you? We need your help, Ember is in the hospital.

Pepper please answer the phone.

Memow stares sadly at the phone, not rereading the mesaages but simply looking at the screen. Suddenly a new message arrives.

Peppermint, we need you. Please.

Doleful Memow tosses the phone onto the floor. She rests her head on her knees again "Must be nicre to have friends" she mutters to herself.

On the other side of the door, Pepper sits in mirror image to Memow. At the sound of the other girl's voice she picks up her head and replies, silently thanking her for breaking the silence.

"I wouldn't know. I only have aquaintances." She cant help but give a very Pepper-like answer.

"Oh shut up!" Memow snaps at her, "can you really consider them only aquaintances after all you've been through? You're always hanging out with them at the Candy Kingdom and there is always an interesting topic when you're around. Fionna takes you shopping and you aren't working for Cake, you just chill in her shop! I know for a fact that without your help the guys wouldn't have been able to save Fionna from the kidnapper last winter!" Memow's anger has risen, "I don't know about you but i call that a globbing friendship."

This hits Pepper likr a wet slap to the face. Uncertain of how to respond Pepper stays quiet. After a few minutes she speaks up, "You've been crying," it isn't a question but a statement.

"Yeah," she rubs her eyes with the palms of her hands, "what do you care?"

"I do care" Pepper replies earnestly. Memow takes in a deep breath. She very much dislikes Pepper but at this moment, with the boy she likes dying and her mother disapproving of anything she does, she has no alternative but to talk to Pepper.

"I'll never be good enough for her. I was the last one she adooted. And the smallest, she is so proud of the lettuce twins. They cause nothing but trouble, that pair of thieves. And then theres her favorite, Gareth. He was so good at charming women out of everything they own. The whole lot of them are good for nothing fellons. It's their fault she sees me only as the stupid daughter that flunked out of the Assassin's Guild!" She breaks down into horrible sobs. "You don't know it's like! To be unwanted by everyone! Even your own mother!"

"You aren't unwanted," Pepper says, "Ember arms to want you pretty bad. Enough to ditch his friends for you." People can no longer hide her petty jealousy. In a dark storage closet, where no one can see her tears, she decides it's ok to act human.

"Flame? Are you kidding me? He doesn't really want me"

"Really? Because he looks like a whoopped puppy dog. Following you around everywhere and doing as you ask."

"He's just like my brother! gets hooked on whatever pretty girl bats their eyelashes at him! It's a miracle he's not dating Fionna or you, even though he wants to"

"Fionna turned him down already. He understands that they can only ever be friends." Pepper rubs her noxe with the back of her hand. Talking about Flame has somehow made her feel better.

"I wasnt talking about her." Memow lets out a frustated sigh, "I was talking about you!"

Pepper's ears perk up like a cats at the sound of this.

"What?!" She cannot believe what she is hearing. Is it really possible that a guy like the famous Flame Prince could actually want to date a quirky and odd girl like Pepper? She has been made to believe that not only Does FP have horrible taste in women, but that he saw her as nothing but an assistant to others, a maid even.

"Don't be thick!" Memow scolds her, her tone changing as the two girls gossip, "you are totally his type! You're sweet and incredibly smart and cute."

"Did he confess to you how he felt towards me?"

"Sort of. I once asked him what his ideal girl would be like, this was in the very beginning when he didn't like me, and he practically described you. I don't think he realized it though. He was practically drooling at the thought of a girl like you." Memow's smiles drops with the last sentence. Pepper takes a minute to analyze this new information before whispering to Memow the most human thijng she has ever said in her fifteen years of existence.

"Are you jealous?" Memow does not hesitate to answer.

"Yes and no. I knew the moment we met that it would never work out between us. We come from two different worlds. Different universes. He's nice, I'm mean. He's kind, I'm selfish. But i did take a liking to him when we met. I still do like him. I have to get over it though. It doesn't matter how i felt, or feel; he's going to die and it's all my fault." She rests her head back against the door.

"Memow," Pepper says softly, "what was in that pie?"

"Some sort of poisonous concoction my mother prepared. I'm not too sure what was in it. I just know that its meant to make the victim suffer from the inside out. It goes straight to the liver and spreads outwards."

"Do you think there is any left over from the batch she made?" Pepper asks anxiously.

"Perhaps. I'd have to check the backroom." Hearing this Pepper's heart lightens and she rises from her place on the floor to face the door.

"Due to the fact that the poison given to Flame was a mixture of various poisons and venoms there is no known antidote for it yet, correct?" She announces to Memow with a slight tone of glee in her voice.

"Yes, that is true." She still sits on the floor with her back pressed to the door.

"But, one can, and will, be made, soon."

"What are you talking about?"

Pepper voice gets loud and affirmative, "There are two things I am certain about. One, you don't like me but you want to save FP just as much as I do. Two, a remedy to reverse FP's ill state can be made. In order for us to save Flame we have to put our difference aside and work together. Now you can sit outside this door and go over all the pros and cons in your head but every second that you spend thinking about it is a second less FP has to live. Or you can let me out and we can be a step closer to saving him. It's your choice. You can be the hero or you can be the villain. What do you want to do Memow?"

Memow automatically stands up from her place and takes a deep breath. Protruding a key from her pocket she inserts it into the lock and releases Pepper. As soon as the door is opened, Pepper whios her hand back and slaps Memow across the face, leaving a red imporint of her hand on her cheek.

"That" Pepper says shaking her aching hand "is for thinking that you are unloved. Don't ever think that you aren't wanted, because you'll be lying to yourself." Even though the two girls are the same height, Memow feels much smaller than Pepper. It isn't until Pepper retrieves her phone from where it was tossed onto the floor that Memow reacts.

"You aren't going to call the cops, are you?"

"Of course not! Those stupid banana guards never do anything right."

"Then who are you dialing?"

Pepper smiles at her, "An expert in science."

© 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	16. Chapter 16

"You're late." Pepper announces as a young man, dressed in khaki pants and a yellow, white, and orange striped sweater walks into the empty shop and approaches the two girls.

"What do you mean I'm late? You called me twenty minutes ago." He retorts, paying hardly any attention to Memow.

"You should have been here five minutes ago. It only takes fifteen minutes to get here from your location. Anyways, we need your help."

"We?"

"Yes, we," Pepper moves beside Memow, "I'd like for you to meet Memow. Memow this is Sienz Derat, a very close friend of Bubba Gumball."

"Memow? Like a cat's meow?" Sienz asks.

"Derat? As in 'the rat'?" She replies cheekily.

"Well at least she isn't making fun of my first name." He says, daring her to try.

"Enough you two." Pepper interferes, "Did you bring what I asked?"

"Yes mam," Sienz lifts up a silver case that he carried inside with him. "My science lab in a case. What exactly do you need from it? You refused to tell me over the telly."

"That is because this is too important to discuss over the telly." Pepper explains, "We need a counter measure."

"To what?"

"To this." Memow holds up a siringe she recovered from the backroom. Inside a neon green, bubbly liquid rests.

"What in Glob's name is this concoction?" He admires the syringe's contents with a mad glee in his eyes.

"We don't know. I would like for you to analyze it quickly and come up with a remedy for it. Please be speedy about it, it's urgent."

Sienz does not question the bossy girl. "Understood. Where can I set up?"

"Back here, " Memow leads him into the backroom. It is an absolute, scientific mess back there. No traditional kitchen utensils are in sight. Instead, test tubes, Bunsen Burners, flasks, beakers, bowls of spices and pippets are strewn all over the place. Viles, powders, and mixing sticks take up the empty space between graduating cylinders and heating pads.

"What the cabbage!?" Sienz cries out in horror using slang that he picked up from Gumball, "This is too distasteful for a lab. I cannot work under these conditions."

"You're going to have to put up with it. There are lives at stake here."

"Who's life?" Sienz asks suddenly curious as to why he was to make a cure.

"A..friend's." Pepper blushes red. Memow catches her blush and shifts her guilty gaze to the floor.

Sienz doesn't question the girls any further. He sets his silver case down in a cleanish area and gets to work quickly. He buzzes from beakers to flasks, examining their contents as quickly as possible. He analyzes all the powders and mixtures in the room. He pours the green liquid into a test tube and sets it on a rack, wafting his hand above the tube to obtain a scent. The girls watch in silence as he begins to mix various fluids and talcs coming up with many different, colorful solvents. After half an hour of heating, mixing, and wafting, Sienz presents to them two syringes full of miraculous elixirs.

Pepper raises an eyebrow at him. "Two?" Sienz nods at her without saying a word. "Surely I don't want to doubt your ability, but if I am not mistaken, these are two different mixtures." She reamrks as she stares down at the two syringes, one filled with a dull salmon, stale-looking liquid, the other with a a bright orange-yellow fluid.

"Indeed, Peppermint, you are correct." He holds up the salmon syringe. "This contains the antidote that should restore your...friend...back to their health. I will personally go and administer this to them, as I doubt that a hospital would let an unofficial staff member give anything that is not approved by them to a patient. And this one, " he picks up the brighter syringe, "is a paralizer similar to the original mix but not as heavily dosed or as dangerous. This version will not kill the victim as the first mix is intended to do, but it will leave them immobile for a couple of hours." He sets that syringe down on the countertop and places the one with the antidote into his case.

"What was the need to brew that one?" Memow asks. Sienz has his back to the girls as he packs away all of his equipment. Pepper watches his shoulders tense up a bit.

"It is for my protection." Pepper answers her. Sienz sighs and turns to face them. He places his hands on Pepper's shoulders &amp; kneels down to her height. His tone is stern but gentel.

"Pepper, Bubba and I have been friends longer that you have been alive. You are the only family he knows and I've always thought of you as my aunt as well as his. If anything were to ever happen to you, I would never be able to forgive myself for the heartache it will cause him. You are the world to him, even if he doesn't show it."

She lets him pull him into a tight hug. "Thank you," she says as they embrace, "I'll be fine," he releases her from his arms, "Don't you dare think for a second that I will not fight for someone I care about." Determination has taken over her voice.

"I know how you can get when one of your loved ones in is great peril. I know you wont allow yourself to loss."

"You should go now. We cannot waste any more time here." The little bell on top of the doors ring and footsteps are heard entering the shop. Sienz eyes go a little wide. "Sneak out through the back. Memow and I can handle this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now go!" Memow and Pepper escort Sienz out the back door.

"Hello?" Someone calls out in the front.

The two girls exchange glances in the back. Pepper grabs the nearest weapon she can find, while Memow tucks in the syringe into her back pocket. She passes the knife over to Memow. "Let's get this over with."

"It would be my pleasure." She says as she grabs Pepper by the hair and tosses her through the double doors leading into the front. Pepper struggles to get on all fours but Memow stabs the knife down on the floor, an inch away from her right hand, making Pepper afraid to squirm any more. "Oh no, you stay right there." She smiles wickedly at her.

"Memow?" The word is whispered but said loud enough to reach the girls ears. Memow cocks her head to the side and her smile becomes even wider and much creepier.

"Hello, Fionna."

© 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	17. Chapter 17

The kitchen knife, protruding from its place on the floor, glistens with an evil grin in the light. Its glare shines bright in Fiona's face. Fiona, who stands in front of Cake, looks at Memow with an angry gaze. She cannot bear to see Pepper sprawled looking so weak.

"Let her go!" Fiona shouts, rage threatening her voice as her hands curl into fists.

Memow laughs at her plea. "Let her go!" She spits back. She continues to laugh. "You can't tell me what to do, Fi-o-na!" Her cackle is mean "Who do you think you are? My mother? Ha!" Memow's laughter is high pitched; it bounces off the walls of the walls of the empty shop with an eerie echo. Fiona's face goes red as her frustration with the idiotic laughter rises. She takes a step closer to Memow, attempting to hit her, but Cake holds her shoulder back. She shakes her head at the young girl, keeping her eyes on Memow.

"Speaking of," Cake says calmly, "where is your mother Memow?"

"What's it to you?!" She snaps, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well, she did only try to kill me. Unfortunately for her, she didn't succeed. Instead, she put one of my friends in the hospital. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, do ya, sweet pea?" Despite the fact that Memow has got Pepper looking so defenseless on the floor, Cake ' s voice is motherly, not hostile. This seems to irritate Memow as she yells back at Cake with bitterness.

"Don't go giving me any pet names, you globbing cat!"

"Globbing cat? Is that the best you can come up with, spoiled kitten?" This time, Cake giggles. "Tell me, are you mad because you're the only one I never visited?"

Memow's eyebrows rise "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't give me that. You must know, if you are doing your mother's bidding, then I am sure you know why she is after me. Say Memow, how are the lettuce twins? And Gareth, is he doing well?"

Memow's voice falters and her eyes go wide. "How do you-"

Cake cuts her off. "So you really know nothing after all. I had assumed as much. After all, you are just a kiddo. Your mother is the real mastermind behind all this isn't she?"

Why I've never heard you say such kind words about me." To other says as she enters through the back door, behind Memow and Pepper. "I came back for my miracle elixir and instead find that my daughter is having a wonderful conversation about me with her godmother. Good you are here, Caitlin, you saved me the trouble of going out and looking for you."

"Hello Timothy, how do you do?" Cake asks, not at all pleased with Timothy's entrance.

"I do awful," she replies, "after all, you are still alive."

"Oh, it can't be that bad. Can't ya just let bygones and bury the hatchet?" Cakes voice is controlled and collected.

"He rotted in jail, you know." Timothy says, "And it's all your fault."

"Cake, what is she talking about?" Fiona suddenly asks. The three girls had been so quiet that it seemed to both Tim and Cake that they were the only two people in the shop.

"I... I don't know." Cake casts her eyes to the floor..

"No!" Timothy screams out. "Don't you dar play innocent this time! Tell them. Tell these girls what you did." Cake's lineament turns ashamed.

"It's a long story." She takes a deep breath, "but i guess it's time some one knew the truth." She looks over at Fionna with sad eyes, then at Memow, who stands guarding Pepper's still body. "Believe it or not, girls, Timothy and i used to be best friends. A long time ago..."

Nineteen year old Cake knocks lightly on the wooden door. She looks around her. The place is a dump. Trash is littered all over the place; soggy, old boots, a broken television, and wooden planks deny plants from seeing sunlight.

"It's open" a voice calls from the inside. Cake pushes the for with her index finger, knowing it would swing forward at the slightest touch. Stepping inside was automatically the opposite of what the outside had been. A very clean house lays inside, despite its shabby outside. At the center of the living room a leather couch sits acrossna flat screen. A 24 year old Timothy sits on it, attending two twin boys who stand in front of her.

"Oh, Tim, two? Two more?" Cake sets her purse down on the couch and take a seat next to her friend. She looks at her young, giddy face and can't help but smile. "When will you adopt a girl?"

"Later," Timothy replies as she fixes one of the boy's hair, "girls aren't all that useful at stealing. They are too soft, and get caught too easily." Her eyes shine with happiness as she states at her two boys with a huge smile. "Anyways, these are my two newest prodigies. I call them the Flying Lettuce brothers, and they are absolutely wonderful. Watch." She nods proudly at the two boys. They turn in unison too look straight into Cake's eyes.

"Tim, hurry up and adopt a girl so that i can be the godmother and spoil her rotten!" The two day in sync. Cake blinks back in shock. She is freaked out by what she'd just heard. The two had mimicked her voice perfectly. It was eerie and creepy to hear her own voice coming from two ten year olds.

"My glob," she says, "that is amazing!"

"I know, isn't it? They can copy any one's voice by just hearing a sentence or two. They are going to make us rich. They will mimic drug dealer's voices and tell the buyer to hand over the money to me in exchange for a key and a secret location." She starts to laugh, "It's brilliant! We'll get all the dough but they wont get their drugs!" She continues to crack up as the twins watch her with a smile on their faces. Cake shows no reaction, instead she fiddles with her fingers and stay silent. When she notices this, Timothy slowly stops laughing and asks her friend "Hey, why aren't you laughing?"

"Tim, I want out." Cake states

"What?" Timothy stops laughing completely, a befuzzled look n her face, "Why?"

"I met a guy," Cake says, "He's very sweet and I really like him. I don't want him to know about my criminal life. I don't want him to know about stealing old men's wallets and taking bikes. I want him to believe I'm cute and innocent." Cake explains.

"But Cake...The gang..." Memow begins to say before Cake finishes her sentence for her.

"Will be fine without me. Don't worry, I wont tell a soul about our-your-gang's whereabouts." Timothy's face becomes sadder with each word. "Oh, Timmy, please be happy for me. This guy is great, a real sweetie pie and he treats me like a queen."

Upon hearing her nickname, Timothy's emotions do a one-eighty turn and she smiles widely at her friend. "Oh I guess I can be happy for you." She places her hand on top of Cake's, "What's his name anyhow?"

"Chrome," Cake replies giddily, "I think you'd like him, although he is kinda serious. He is very nice. Speaking of, I gotta run," she gets up from her seat, "I got a date with him later and I want to go freshen up." She grabs her purse, and walks to the door with Timothy trailing behind her, lost in thought. Cake turns to her before reaching the door.

"You aren't mad at me, are ya?"

"Heck nah, you're my sister and I love you." She forces a grin.

"'kay. You're the best." Cake gives her friend a tigh hug. "Don't forget, your next adopted kid has got to be a girl."

"Mhmm." Timothy's smile is gone as she waits for her guest to leave.

"Name her Memow, like a kitten's meow. That would be totes bloobie."

"You got it." She closes the door, forcing the sunlight out of the house. "Chrome," Timothy whispers to herself. "Gareth!" She calls outloud.

A boy with a head a bit too big for his body enters the room, "Yes?" He asks as Timothy makes her way into the kitchen.

"Did you hear that Gareth?" She doesn't look at her first adopted child. "Cake is going to leave us. She wants to desert us for that guy, Chrome." She opens one of the cobinet doors and retrieves a glass. Filling it up with water she looks sternly at her son. "You know what must be done."

Gareth replies in a serious tone. "I must find him and get rid of him."

(c) 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


	18. Chapter 18

P

The rain comes down hard on Chrome as he inserts his key into the lock giving it a turn. He is drenched, his gray shirt and dark jeans sticking to him like a second skin. He places his keys on the small table next to the door and flicks on the light, but it didn't turn on. Chrome shrugs and makes a mental note to call the electrician tomorrow. He blindly stumbles to his kitchen, holding onto the wall for balance. Thunder can be heard from outside and the rain pours heavily. He reaches the kitchen, feeling along the wall for the light switch, but the kitchen light doesn't turn on either. A flash of lightning illuminates the room momentarily. Chrome's eye catches a soft light coming from the living room. He moves towards it, but doesn't get very far when a voice stops him.

"Hello Chrome" it says, his voice deep and mean. Another lightning flash and he can almost make out the person sitting on it before the lights flicker and turn on. A young man, of about 15 or so, is sitting there patiently waiting for Chrome.

"Who?" Chrome says. Gareth holds up his hand to stop him from asking any further questions.

"Don't bother. I will not tell you who I am or who I work for. I'm only here to deliver a message." With his upheld hand, he motions to the coffee table where a folded up note lays. Chrome reaches for it, Gareth's eyes never leaving him. He reads the note, his eyes going wide at certain parts. When he is done, he looks up at Gareth, almost as if he doesn't understand. Gareth seems to get the message.

"Simply put, you are to break up with Miss Caitlin. Understand that you are no good for her. You are to break up with her and never see her again, or else there will be deadly consequences. If you tell her about this meeting, the note, or anything related, there will be even deadlier consequences. If you refuse our warning, the consequences will not only be deadly but dangerous and painful as well. " Quiet Chrome stands still as he clutches the note in his hand. "Do what is best for her. If you really love her then you should get out of her life, quickly." Another lightning strike illuminates the room. The lights flicker off as Chrome blinks a couple of times to readjust his eyes. As soon as he can see clearly again Gareth is gone. He raises the note to his eyes again, reading and re-reading the last sentence. The sentence that would change his life forever.

_"You have a week, or else she's dead." _

Cake bounces into the dinner where Chrome waits patiently for her. It's been three days since he receieved the awful visitation but he looks unchanged as he smiles at her when she makes her cheerful way towards him.

"Hey you!" She greets him with a kiss on the cheek. "Great place, don't ya think?" She says while taking a seat across from him. "Someday I wanna own a place like this. But not so much of a dinner, but more like a cafe or a candy bar. I think that would be rad." Chrome can't help but smile as he watches her eyes light up when she talks about her dreams. She notices him looking at her with absolute happiness in his eyes.

"So," She says softly, "What did you want to tell me?" She's so giddy, and cute, practically radiating with beauty. He looks at her cheery face thinking about how a guy like him could end up with such an amazing and beautiful girl such as her.

He gives her a smitten smile and says, "Roadtrip." Cake cocks her head to the side.

"You're going away?" Her cheerful mood drops a little. He nods, his gaze focused on his interlocked hands resting on the counter. He looks up to meet her eyes.

"Come with me." Cake's eyes widen at the sudden invite.

"Where to?" She asks, not skipping a beat.

"Away."

"When?"

"Now."

"Are you asking me to just leave everything behind to go with you away to someplace you aren't sure of yet?" Her voice rises in volume.

Chrome looks back down at his hands, "You don't have to"

Cake slumps back in her seat, "I know I don't, but I don't want to be without you either." She pauses, "How long will you be gone?"

"Forever."

"Globbit that's a long time. Are you sure you can't stay?" He shakes his head. "Why not?" He stays quiet, placing a closed fist in front of his mouth. "I don't know, Chromie." She says, "I know I don't rely on anyone but myself but my parents, my friends, I can't leave them all behind." He looks up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Please."

She bites her lower lip, thinking about her options, "Where will we go?" she asks, "Where will we live? We can't possibly live together, it's too early for that." She's beginning to hyperventilate. Chrome places his hand on top of hers. Her hazel eyes lock into his gray ones. At his touch she calms down.

"Please?" He asks again, "I don't want to lose you." Cake's heart nearly stops at hearing those words. She gets red in the face and there are multiple butterflies doing backflips in her tummy. She'd only known this man for two weeks or so and he was already asking her to run away with him. It was a crazy idea but it somehow felt right.

"Okay." she says at last, "I'll go with you." His eyes light up and he straightens in his seat. He smiles widely at her.

"Great! Pack up, we'll leave soon!"

"Alrighty," an excited buzz takes over Cake's mind. She was going away with Chrome; to an unknown place full of adventure and opportunity! "Do you want me to meet you at your place?" Chrome shakes his head without hesitation. The goons who wanted to separate them knew where he lived and he couldn't risk putting Cake in trouble.

"I'll pick you up." He gets up and places a kiss on her forehead, "See you at six." He smiles at her once more before leaving the dinner to finish packing. Cake remains in her seat. She reaches up to touch her forehead, brushing her fingertips along the spot where Chrome's kiss burns lightly. She giggles to herself and blushes. Grabbing her purse and reaching inside she protrudes a small cellphone. She hits speed dial. Placing the phone to her ear she lets out and excited squeal.

"Hey, Tim! You are not going to believe this!"

(c) 2015 Cynthia Hernandez


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